Me And My Shadow (Pure Redemption: Book Two)
by Shen's General
Summary: It was only a few months since Kludd had escaped his darkness, as he now prepare to spend the rest of eternity with his love, but when old enemies returned, a forbidden artifact is revealed, with powers that would bring a whole new meaning to the term 'inner demons'. Major KxN, SxO, DxG, TxSS, ExOC. Rated T temporarily, will escalate to M.
1. Darkness On The Rise

**Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole**

**'_Me and My Shadow_'**

**by Shen's General**

**A/N: Good day (or evening), folks. It is I, the famous general of Gongmen City's true emperor, Shen's General. As you can all see recently, I had finished my first story known as Between Brothers, which had been well-received and loved, and I am back to present to you, the sequel to that story, Me and My Shadow. Starting now, my format for these stories will be like that of what you had seen in Second Chance, where I do review reponses, and listing the voices for my OCs. One thing you might be noticing is that this story will be M-Rated, for this will be the darkest story of the series, for it includes an unhealthy amount of bloodshed, some coarse language (not constant but throughout), and a mating scene towards the end. Before I officially begin, I should mention that I will not be constantly reminding people that this story is based off bluecatcinema's series, for you readers probably already got the hint, and as for the ownership of Nix, I had took great thought in that, and realized, Nix isn't technically an OC, for he appeared in the movie. It's just that FeoranPride, an inactive member of the FanFiction community, developed his character, along with TearfulFriend18. So I really do not see the point in putting up a notice of who developed his persona. So…without further ado, let's begin the second story within the Pure Redemption Saga, and sequel to Between Brothers…Me and My Shadow.**

**I do not own Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole and their beloved characters**

**I do own the OCs set to appear in this chapter**

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Chapter One: Darkness On The Rise

INSIGHT INTO THE THEOLOGY OF DARKNESS

DATE: Silver Rain, Month 1, Day 25, Year 701

SUBJECT: Introduction

Darkness, noun, the partial or total absence of light.

When one says the word darkness, what is the first thought that comes to mind? To the simple-minded, they simply think of the night sky, or when the moon is up. To those of an higher intellect, they say that darkness is a mere cause of a lack of light within an environment or inability to see because all your eyes see is blackness…but to owls such as myself and to bards, raconteurs, and all followers of religion, darkness is seen in a complete yet complex manner. When we think of darkness, many thoughts come to mind, but they all revolved around these words…evil, insanity, chaos, and anarchy. Darkness is not an object per se, but an idea so controversial, there is no one sole universal definition. Some owls fear darkness for its corruption, as many would argue that it would destroy your soul and taint your heart, as well as muddles your mind, turning you into a being that knows no emotion or feelings, such as remorse and guilt. But others owls see it in a completely different way…for they see it as power…power that makes you feared and respected by those weaker than you, pushing you to limits that you thought cannot be reached. But as a whole, many see it as a source of destruction, claiming that it was such a thing that led to the Others' extinction. Because of these different views and ideals, I, like many others before me, had decided to begin research into one of the world's greatest mysteries…over the course of this extensive study, I shall observe the views of owls from opposite ends of the morality scale, see how the influence of darkness truly work…my goal of such a lofty task is to see why there are good owls as well as evil owls in the world, and possibly see how we can finally achieve peace in this war-torn world…

Entry End

V.

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The full moon shines bright over the owl kingdoms, illuminating everything within its reach with its heaven-like moonlight. It is by the rule of casting a shadow that its reach doesn't extend everywhere, for objects prevent moonlight from reaching everywhere, casting the sheltered areas into perpetual blackness.

However, there is a phenomenon located within the world where the abovementioned rule is broken, for there is a forest in the far northwestern region of the owl kingdoms, whose name is known as The Shadow Forest. It is an ominous yet cliché name, rest assured, but sure enough, it lives up to it's name, for some reason unknown, it is surrounded by a shroud of black mist year-round, mist so thick yet transparent that no moonlight, no matter it's strength, can pierce it.

No one knows why this is so. There were many rumors and gossip about it, though. One said that it was a result of some environmental abnormality, another say that the place was haunted by less than pleasant scrooms, haunting all that were unfortunate to wander there. A popular belief that owls usually accept is that it once served as nesting grounds for hagsfiends, the owl equivalent of demons, before their global extermination at the talons of the Glauxian angels during the First War. Because of that belief, the woods were deemed cursed, and no one would dare roost here for the sake of their own hides.

But as of tonight, it serves as a meeting place for a group of avians…for a dark purpose…as a shadowy figure makes its way through the forbidden woods, precariously observing the area around the being to assure that it was not being followed by any on-lookers. Eventually, the being approached a peculiar tree that was split open, possibly by a well-aimed lightning or through decay of the dying tree. It landed on a branch of an neighboring tree, keeping within the shade of the dark tree's foliage, keeping the being's figure well-hidden…hidden from what, you may ask…hidden from another being who was perched atop one of the split-open tree's branch, also in the shadows, as it looked at where the other had landed and addressed…

"You're late," The being stated in a masculine voice.

The other being let out a sigh, as it replied, in an older and gruff tone, "My apologies. I had to assure that no one would over hear of this conversation-"

"I don't give a damn about your excuses." The other owl interrupted, his impatience apparent, "You are lucky that I even bother to come to this Glaux-forsaken place to listen to you."

"I understand." The older owl nodded, "But I promise you, these meetings are not in vain. There is a path where this gathering is leading…"

"There better be." The raptor atop the mangled tree threatened.

"Of course." The gruff-voiced owl replied, before adopting a mysterious tone, "But I must apologize before-talon about keeping my identity hidden…I was under the impression that we would be having this conversation in privacy."

At first glance, it would seemed like that owl was delusional…but in reality, he was very perceptive, as two lumbering black figures on a branch next to the annoyed owl on the destroyed tree, one with orange eyes, the other with yellow, stepped out of the shadows.

"I told you that he could see us." The yellow-irises owl spat to his fellow branch mate.

"Hey, it's not my fault he's so…so…" The other owl defended before he was silenced by the snarl of their leader.

"SILENCE!" The bitter owl barked at the two, as he turned to face the gruff-voiced owl, "These two are my personal shields, as I do not trust your sprinking tailfeathers to save my life."

"Apparently so, or you wouldn't had dragged those filthy rats along as well." The gruff voice quipped, as suddenly, two more pairs of eyes stepped out of shadows on a branch opposite side of the leader owl.

One of the two beings, a tall yet lean figure, with green eyes, spat in anger, "HEY! I AM NOT A RAT! I AM AS MUCH OF A PREDATOR AS YOUR KIND!"

"Is that so? What says you?" The gruff voice asked, gesturing to the hulking brown-eyed being behind the angry green-eyed character.

The big bird yelled, "I AM STRONG! I AM HANDSOME! I AM-"

"Oh shut your trap!" The smaller bird snapped, silencing him.

"Enough!" The leader owl screamed, as he then glared at the gruff voice, "These are my associates I had been working with for a little while now, and I would greatly appreciate it if you stop wasting your time with your pitiful insults and get on with this Glaux-fucking meeting!"

"Temper, temper…" The gruff voice scolded, "It seems like the hawks had been a bad influence on you…but if you insist…first, I must ask…do you have it?"

Upon the compliance of the gruff voice, the leader owl's expression softened, "Yes. It took a few men to dig it out but you will be pleased to know that we had found it." The owl pulled out from behind him a wrapped object, showing it to the gruff-voiced owl. The said owl took a step forth, only for the leader raptor to hide it.

"Not so fast. Show us one of the pieces first." The owl demanded in a suspicious manner.

"Oh, please be reasonable, Your Pureness, we had been meeting for the last couple months." The gruff-voiced complained.

"No. Like I said, I don't trust you. I want proof that you are not trying to cheat us." The 'Pureness' stated coldly.

The owl let out a heavy sigh as he drawn from behind him a similar cloth bundled object. The five beings on the odd-looking tree looked at it peculiarly, as the mysterious owl then unwrapped a part of it, showing off a light-purplish glow, causing the four birds on the opposite sides of the leader owl to awe at the shine of the object. The mysterious owl quickly covered it as he then asked, "Are you satisfied?"

The leader owl nodded, "Yes." Suddenly, he looked up to a branch higher than him, as he let out a screech.

This confused the mysterious owl, until suddenly, a dark blur dropped from it, quickly snatching the object from the leader owl and tossing it over to him in a quick instant, nearly catching him off guard as he catches it, much to his relief, as he glared at the thing that passed him the apparently important object, as it disappeared before he could see it.

"You brought that…that _creature_ here?! He could have ruined it!" The gruff-voice snarled.

"Relax, you fool. That creature has been beneficial to our operations…and hopefully, with that thing in your possession, you will be just as beneficiary to achieving our ultimate goal…" The leader owl darkly chuckled.

"Right…" The gruff-voice replied, his voice filled with doubt… "That is not entirely true…"

"What are you talking about?" The lead owl questioned, "You said to me that we needed _three_ of them. You said you had two of them and we just gave you the last one!"

"Correction. I said I knew the location of the other two. But in reality, I have only one of them, plus the one you had just forfeited ownership to." He explained.

"Wait, if that is so…then where is the third one, pray tell?" The green-eyed small avian asked, stepping forth to reveal his small hawk-like build.

The gruff voice remained muted, confusing the two other owls on the opposite branch.

"Hey, answer the hawk!" One of them bellowed, over judging his thrust forward, nearly causing him to lose balance, showing off his long-ear tufts, before being caught by his orange-eyed cousin.

"I AM STRONG! I AM HANDSOME!" The big eagle-like figure answered in tandem, as if he was demanding the same thing as the two stumbling owls.

"Well? Don't leave us in suspense!" The leader owl demanded, his tone cold and piercing.

Another deep sigh ensued, as the mysterious owl answered, "It is kept within the archives of the library…within the great tree on the island of Hoole."

This answer prompted a loud outburst of angry screeches as the five screamed, one of them answering in his repetitious phrase, "WHAT/STRONG?!"

"Are you shitting me?!" The green-eyed hawk screamed, "You mean to tell us that the last piece for our plan's success is in their library?!"

"I'm afraid that is correct." The mysterious owl nodded, "But it does you no good to get your feathers ruffled.

The leader owl was more upset however, "I'm with Harris here! Why the hagsmire would you not tell us that the last piece to our ultimate plan to rule these kingdoms is with those owls?! How can you be so sprinking stupid?!"

"YEAH/HANDSOME!" The two long-eared owls and the eagle agreed, just as angry.

These angry outbursts however did not faze the owl however, as he calmly answered, "Do not fret, my liege. I had feared that you would over-react if I were to tell you this truth."

"Of course we would overreact!" The green-eyed hawk named Harris answered, "What, did you just expect us to be able to waltz in there, take the thing we need, and leave?"

"Actually…yes." The gruff-voiced owl nodded, "You all do know how to get to the tree, don't you?"

The five just gaped at the owl's simple answer and question, as the leader answered, "Yes. But in case you had forgotten, there are over hundreds of them Guardians living there! And given how we had busted our way into that place before, we can't simply just sneak in and take it!"

"…Who said anything about sneaking in?" The gruff voice asked, "I was suggesting that you pull an invasive assault upon the tree!"

"WHAT?!" The leader snarled, "That is the stupidest plan I've ever heard! Our numbers are not as much as it was a few months back and even then, to attack them would be suicide!"

"Oh, ye of little fate, I had a hunch you would say that." The mystery owl chuckled, "That is why I had already devised a battle plan for you-"

"FORGET IT!" The leader owl screamed, "I am not going to throw my men into a fight they can't win, just for a measly little thing like that!"

"Are you sure?" The raptor questioned.

"YES! Look, I don't even know if this plan of yours is going to work, and if it doesn't, we would have wasted a bunch of resources for nothing!" The owl growled, swelling a size or two, "This is not worth the trouble or the effort!"

"Really?" The shadowed owl asked, not deterred by the refusal, as he then questioned, pulling out a piece of paper from his talon, "Not even if I showed you this?"

"What is that?!" The leader demanded.

"Oh, nothing much, Your Pureness…" The owl nonchalantly smirked, "I merely intercepted this from the tree. I figured that you would find my plan foolish, so I bring you something to persuade you. Catch."

With a flick of his talon, the folded paper was flung at the owl, which in turn caught it with his talon. The raptor, looking at the mysterious owl in confusion, unfolded the paper as he viewed its content…

"It is once said there are many reasons why an owl would perform such a heinous crime, for remuneration, or for the love of a woman…or in your case, Lord Nix of the Pure Ones…revenge…"

Nix's fiery-orange eyes…or technically, fiery-orange eye, for his left eye was gouged a little while back by a shrapnel of metal held by a certain elderly owl he tried to kill, glowered in fury and madness, his rustic mask, battle-worn and the right side of the visor sliced open, glinting in the little light that managed to peer through the dark unholy mists of the forest, as with a calm and orderly voice, he demanded, "Jatt, Jutt, alert Uglamore and the others, Harris, Fatal, do likewise with the hawks…we are taking to arms."

The gruff-voice gave a hidden smirk, "I knew you would see things my way."

Harris looked at Nix in surprise as he demanded, "Wait a minute, why are we doing this?!"

Nix did not answer immediately, as an evil grin appeared on his face, although it could not be seen under his mask, "Simple, my hawk friend, I am merely giving my condolences to an old friend of mine…" He crumpled and tossed the letter aside, laughing maniacally as it fell to the ground of the forest, and slowly unfolding as sounds of wingflaps ensued…the contents of the paper said this:

'_You are cordially invited to the wedding of Kludd Alba and Nyra 'Canner' Camille, being held at First Black within the Great Tree of Ga'Hoole tomorrow._'

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**A/N: Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter. I know it is short, but I am trying to keep it that way, so I could update more frequently. As you can see, there is already a dark scheme afoot, starring the return of our old enemies, Nix and Harris. I hope you guys liked that journal like entry in the beginning of the chapter, as it will be that way for the rest of the story. I bet you are all wondering who that gruff-voiced owl was as well as that blur that Nix screeched to…that will be revealed all in due time. READ AND REVIEW!**

**Voice Cast for OCs**

**Nix – Jensen Ackles (_Dean Winchester _from_ Supernatural_)**

**Harris Hawk – Simon Baker (_Patrick Jane _from _The Mentalist_)**

**Fatal – Jason Segel (_Marshal Eriksen_ from _How I Met Your Mother_)**

_********__Artworks stuff is appreciated, deeply appreciated._


	2. The Darkness That Binds

**A/N: OK. I bet most of you are wondering what is going on with the last chapter. Well, as you read in the last sentence of the chapter, there is a wedding going on between our two favorite Pure Ones...but not just yet. So let us begin!**

**REVIEW RESPONSES**

**FtDLutz: **Your very welcome.

**sonicfighter21354: **Your welcome. As for the profane words...I am sorry to say that curse words will be uttered throughout this story, but not a whole lot. And remember, hawks do not use owl's vocabulary. And yes, the wedding will be...entertaining.

**Crazybird101: **Thank you. I do not know what added humor you meant, but thanks...and yes, there might be some wedding crashers, just maybe.

**Godzilla Fan 2012: **Thank you.

**1-1 Marines: **Yes, that image does look funny, improbable, but funny. As for Uglamore, no comment. As for who Gruff Voice is...well it will be revealed later on.

**Elete12: **The plan? Oh, I am sure it won't be anything theatrical.

**X1Mobius: **Thank you, that means a lot coming from you. But as to who Gruff Voice is, I never said he was out to take down the Guardians nor that he held a grudge...but your guess is quite viable.

**ashthetyto: **Yes, Uglamore and the others will make a appearance later on.

**Synchronized Harmony: **Thank you, Sync. I'm sorry if the swear words bothered you, but I want to try to extend my reach into a mature fic. Don't worry though, as I told sonicfighter21354, the curse words won't be completely constant, and it's not like I'm going to use it repeatedly in one sentence or something.

**TearfulFriend18: **Indeed it does, my friend, indeed it does.

**I do not own Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole and their beloved characters**

**I do own the OCs set to appear in this chapter**

**Warning, the first few paragraphs does contain a bit of gory detail.**

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Chapter Two: The Darkness That Binds

INSIGHT INTO THE THEOLOGY OF DARKNESS

DATE: White Rain, Month 3, Day 28, Year 703

SUBJECT: Fear

In my third year of studying this matter, I could not help but wonder this question:

Why are we afraid of the darkness?

The fear of the dark, or Nyctophobia, as they call it, stems from the fear of the unknown, for when one is in the dark, they cannot see anything, and when one cannot see anything, their imagination run rampant, causing our minds to assume the worse would spawn from it's unforgiving depths. This, however, is justified, as the world we lived in is fraught with predators, and to not know when one would reveal itself from the shadows can be gizzard-wracking when flying at night.

They say that the darkness act as a breeding ground for all monsters and nightmares…but isn't the light any different? Is it best that we not see the monsters and not live in fear of the horrendous creatures that thrive in the light?

And what of us? We are owls, creatures birthed to fly in the night. Would that make us the monsters they speak of? Or is there a deeper meaning of darkness lying underneath our feathers, so deep, that we are afraid of what our own selves have to show? And what of owls who had flown with darkness? Do they accept darkness because they are not afraid? Or is it that they fear it so much that they dare not to deny it?

I hope to learn more of this when I go to seek out the kingdom of the Pure Ones…maybe then, I can see what creates this apparent fear of darkness…

Entry End

V.

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Haze...that was all that Kludd could see. The scarred Tyto had no idea as to where he was, or how he got there, but as simple as that, he was there. Although he could not see anything, his sense of smell told him a bit of his surrounding. As he took a whiff, he smelt something perturbing...he did not recognized it at first, but as he continue to sniff it, he felt a memory suddenly strike his mind.

"_Kludd! NO!_" The voice of his brother echoed in his head.

Fire. The smell he sensed was smoke from fire, much like the ones back in Beaks before...Kludd gingerly placed a wing on his scarred cheek, shivering at that memory of which he was almost burned alive. But then, as he stood there, he sensed another smell invading his beak, one that was nauseating and sickening, one that reminded him of yet another scene...

"_What exactly are they eating?_" Digger's voice said in his mind, "_Pee-ew! Whatever it is, it is ripe!_"

The image of the helmed head of one of his soldier flashed his mind, causing Kludd to flinch in horror. It was the smell of decay and death. Why would he smell fire and death? Especially given how all he could see was a thick mist that prevented him from seeing anything...or at least, it did, before suddenly, it began to dissipate, much to the Tyto's confusion. But that confusion turned to horror as his location was revealed to him...

He was in the tree of Ga'Hoole...but it looked way horribly different. At first, he knew that he was in the main hall, but it was hard to recognize it as parts of the room were completely devastated, fires burning all around him, showing no signs of dying out.

"Oh Glaux..." Kludd uttered, unable to comprehend what was going on. He hesitantly took a few steps forward as he surveyed his surroundings...and stops suddenly as he saw a limp body of an owl. Curious, not to mention horrified, he slowly approached the body, and seeing how the somewhat-small owl was face down, he slowly turned it over...only to jump in fright.

It was Pip, a well-acclaimed member of the Search and Rescue Chaw...except his body was now mangled, as his chest was practically ripped open, as if done by one swish of a claw, most of his vital organs either badly mutilated or missing, and the eyes of the Little Owl were blank and without life. Kludd could only gaped in horror and sadness of what befell the poor owl...but as he examined the body, he noticed a trail of blood leading from him, too long to have simply trickled from his body.

With hesitation, Kludd looked at where the trail lead, only to tremble in more shock as more bodies of owls laid in its path. The scarred Tyto did not recognize them, but it was sickening nonetheless. And to make matters worse, the trail did not end there; it seemed to lead out of the main hall and into the corridors. Needing to know what could had done this, the owl followed the blood trail, ignoring the bodies in order to prevent himself from growing ill, as he went further into the tree. Unfortunately, the devastation only grew worse, as many of the branches were splintered off or were caught ablaze. And the bodies...oh, the bodies...they were scattered throughout, covered in gruesome gashes, some of them missing a few of their body parts or their internal organs spilled out of them. Growing more scared by the second, Kludd took to the air as he quickly tried to get to the end of the trail before his body grew completely yeep with terror.

Eventually, Kludd found himself in the hall leading up to the parliament chamber. Deciding to make his approach by foot, he slowly approached the doors, but as he did, he noticed that the blood spatters were much bigger. Kludd looked around to see where they came from...only to stop in heartbreaking shock. To his left, he saw a barn owl couple, much like himself, thrown against a wall, as the smaller one had her throat sliced and a hole in her chest, while the male...Kludd shuddered... had his wings ripped off and his head smashed in. To make things worse...he knew them. They were his parents.

"Ma...Da..." The Tyto whispered, as he looked to his right, only to be met with more hurt, as he saw the body of a snake, severed in half, and next to her, the small, petite figure of an owlet, who unlike the others, had her throat simply slit, her blood staining her fluffy down. "Mrs. P...Eglantine...no..." Kludd whimpered, as tears threatened his eyes...they were all dead...he could only shakily ask, "Who...who could...could...have done this?"

There was no answer as expected...but he knew that the answer lied behind those doors that were in front of him, where the trail lead...summoning up his courage and strength, he slowly walked towards the doors, his gizzard growing numb with each step, unable to take his mind off all the carnage that was caused here. As soon as he was in front of them, he took a deep shaky breath, and with all his might, he gave the doors a push, immediately opening them...as Kludd only gasped in horror and mortification.

If he had thought the many corpses scattered throughout the tree was bad, this room outmatched it. The Parliament Chamber was practically destroyed and there were dead corpses everywhere, strewn all over the place. Even the smell was vomit inducing, as Kludd struggled to keep it in his stomach. He slowly walked in as he examined the room, and instantly recognized the bodies on the upper parts of the chamber. There was Strix Struma, the navigation and warrior ryb, deep gashes lacing her chest, Bubo, the blacksmith, his neck broken, as well as Madame Plonk, the singer of the tree, her neck twisted an odd angle, and Dewlap, the Ga'Hoology and tracking ryb, her wings now gone. And next to Dewlap's dead body, there was a big splatter of blood. Normally, Kludd thought it was from Dewlap, but he took note of a piece of skull of an owl...one that had a moon scar on it...LaRoche, the new search and rescue chaw ryb and replacement for the traitor Allomere, was seemingly reduced to paste, a fate that not even he deserved.

Even worse so, the king and queen of the tree, Boron and Barran, were dead, as Barran's gizzard was gutted while Boron's throat was ripped out. Kludd's heart beat rapidly...and it grew worse as he noticed the bodies on the floor. To his left, he saw the band: Digger, Gylfie, and Twilight, as they all had deep gashes in their bodies, blood staining all their feathers. The Tyto quickly looked away to avoid seeing their carcasses, but as he did, he saw another body...a Whiskered Screech Owl who had both his claws ripped off as well as his beak, and a gaping hole where his heart was...Ezylryb. Kludd instantly backed away, his level of fear growing more, not noticing the irony in his death, unable to fathom who could have been able to best even he, the Lyze of Keil, one of the legendary heroes, as he couldn't bear to look at his mangled corpse at he turned away towards the center...where his blood ran cold.

In front of him, in the middle of the room, surrounded by all the awful decay, was a singular owl. But what made this owl special was the fact that he was a barn owl like him, as Kludd approached the body, feeling his gizzard fall to a new low, whispering, "Soren..." Indeed, it was his brother, Soren...but his body, in comparison to all the other bodies (excluding LaRoche, of course), was mangled the most, as both his talons were twisted beyond their natural reach to the point of which the tendons were ripping, as well as his left wing, while half of his right wing was ripped off, leaving a jagged, uncomforting edge to the remnant of it, and his chest was clawed up like a tree used for sharpening, and his spine was sliced, a horrid, gruesome gash running from his tailfeathers up to his neck (**cough...tribute to Book Kludd...cough**). But what disturbed him the most was the look in Soren's eyes, which unlike the others which were blank, his eyes were transfixed in horror, as if he was alive as all these wounds were dealt to him, and it only became more apparent as Kludd saw the object stuffed in his beak, slightly pulsing still...Kludd gaped...it was an owl's beating heart...and as the scarred Tyto looked to see where it came from, he noticed the limp figure of a short-eared owl next to him, with a still bleeding hole in her chest...

Kludd could not begin to comprehend who could have done all of this...everyone in the tree was slaughtered indiscriminately and without mercy...even the Parliament were killed...no…destroyed...and his friends...his family...they were all dead, never to breath the fresh air ever again...and his own brother, Soren, he had died the most gruesome of deaths, his last breath taken as he was forced to choke on his to-be mate Otullisa's heart. Why...Kludd's eyes began to tear...why would someone do something so horrid? So Glaux awful?

His question was answered as a loud bone-crushing sound was made, causing the barn owl to look up from his deceased brother, only to have his heart stop as he screamed, "NOOOOOOO!"

In front of him, standing on the perch that belonged to the king and queen, was a completely black-feathered owl, about the same size as him, with eyes of an unsettling gold, staring into his soul...but what truly broke him was the white-feathered body of a female owl lying in it's talons, her neck slit as blood leaked out steadily, staining her snowy-white feathers, her blue-green eyes blanked in horror. The now deceased owl was none other than Nyra, the once queen of the Pure Ones, once mate to the infamous Metalbeak...and was to be his mate. Words got caught in the scarred Tyto's throat as the black owl simply dropped her body onto the ground nonchalantly, as if she was a bit of scrap.

The male owl instantly dashed to her side, scooping her body into his wings, jostling her, "Nyra! Wake up! Please! Don't die! Please!" He shouted, hoping it would keep her awake, but his grief prevented him from seeing that the white barn owl was dead the moment he saw her. He kept shaking her, "No! You can't do this! You can't die! You can't! You can't..." Kludd demanded shakily, for the weight of everyone dying, including his own fiancé, finally affected him as he burst into tears, crying horribly into his now dead lover's feathers, ignoring the blood staining his own feathers, letting out loud screams of anguish, feeling the crushing sense of loneliness surround him...he wanted to know why this had to happen, why everyone except him had to die? It wasn't fair...it wasn't fair!

"How pitiful...this is what had become of you..."

Kludd looked up at where the black owl was, given how he was only other breathing owl in this entire tree, as he felt his anger flared viciously, muttering, "You...you are responsible for all this?"

The black owl darkly chuckled, "Yes. And I got to say, I never had so much fun slaying all these fools and their sprinking principles."

The scarred Tyto gritted his beak, as he gently placed his dead fiancé on the ground, "Why…why would you do this?" He then screamed, "WHAT DID ANYONE HERE DO TO DESERVE THIS?! WHY DID THEY ALL HAD TO DIE?!"

This bout of anger did not affect the dark being, as he explained, "It is quite simple. They dared to believe that they deserve to breathe the same air as us. I was just simply puttting them in their place as inferior pieces of filth compared to us mighty Tytos."

"Inferior? Tytos?" Kludd shakily growled, "WHAT ABOUT NYRA?! WHAT ABOUT MY FAMILY?!"

"Your family were a lost cause, their minds poisoned by these mongrels...as for Nyra, it was a pure shame...she would had made a promising mate to you...but instead, she became nothing more than a filthy-lower species loving whore!" The black owl spat with malice.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Kludd screeched, not willing to let anyone insult his love, as he lunged at the black owl with his wings spread wide and his claws splayed open, hell-bent on ripping him apart, his shattered heart begging for nothing more than vengeance. But the ebony-feathered owl anticipated his attack, as the owl merely caught the angered Tyto by the neck with his right talon, equipped with a bloody battle claw. Kludd struggled to get free, swinging his claws like crazy to hit him, as he felt his windpipes being crushed, gasping, "Damn you..."

An insane and dark smirk grew on the murderous owl's face; as he let out a terrifying laugh, "Look all around you, Kludd...this..." He gestured to the dead bodies in the room, "All of this...is punishment for turning away from everything that was bestowed upon you. You should had listened to Maurice...you can't escape your darkness. Darkness is a part of you, it's your hatred, your anger, your lust...you gave into it and it becomes you. You don't belong in the light, boy...and it is only a matter of time before your darkness comes back and consumes you once and for all...it is only better that you accept the truth of your true destiny..."

Kludd could only snarl as he tried to break free, trying to ignore the dark words the being uttered...but he could not helped but wondered, as he looked him in the eyes, "Who...who are you?"

"Me?" The dark being asked...before breaking into another mad laugh. Before Kludd could ask what was so damn funny, he realized that the black feathers were withering away from him, as if he was instantly molting. However, as the feathers quickly blew away, new ones took it's place and when all the blackness had been shed, Kludd let out a gasp of terror. This owl, this murderer, this epitome of all that was evil...he was faced with himself, as the barn owl with the golden eyes bellowed, "I AM YOU!" With that scream, he took his other talon and rips his head off...

* * *

The scarred Tyto jolted upward in horror, "GAH!" his heart beating rapidly as the terror had caught a hold of it, as he could not comprehend his surroundings. However, he then glanced over himself, especially over his neck, and let out a huge sigh of relief; it was just a horrid daymare.

He looked around as he remembered where he was: in his hollow in the Great Tree of Ga'Hoole, home to the legendary group of knights known as Guardians, ruled by their venerable rulers, Boron and Barran, and their group known as the Parliament, consisted of the rybs of the tree, Strix Struma, Dewlap, and LaRoche, as well as the tree's blacksmith Bubo and singer Madame Plonk, and the hero Lyze of Keil, or as everyone called him, Ezylryb. It also happened to be the newfound home of his, along with his brother Soren, who was a Guardian himself now, his sister Eglantine, as well as his parents Noctus and Marella, and nursemaid Mrs. Plithiver, or Mrs. P for short as well as a plethora of other owls that he learned to call friends, Digger, Gylfie, and Twilight. This tree had been his home for about a few months now, and he had grown to like it here, especially given all he had to go through to be here now.

He was Kludd Alba, a barn owl hatched in the Forest Kingdom of Tyto, where he had lived up till eighteen, until one night, while branching with his brother without parental supervision, his jealousy got the best of him as he inadvertently sent his brother and him to the forest floor, where they almost got killed by a wolverine, had not two bumbling Long Eared Owls saved them...only to find out that they were being kidnapped and taken to St. Aggies, a group of barren canyons and crags, along with many other owlets, where they were first met the Pure Ones, a group of owls consisted of only the Tyto genus who believed their kind were above all others, and were willing to put down anyone who said otherwise. It was there that he met Nyra Camille, the Ablah General of the Pure Ones, and mate to the Lord High Tyto Metalbeak, formerly known as Surtr Camille, the leader and king of the Pure Ones. Nyra attempted to appeal to the crowd of owlets by telling them that the Pure Ones were their new family, when an Elf Owl by the name of Gylfie tried to plead to release them, which resulted in his brother, ever the noble owl, to stand up for her. Agitated, Nyra branded them as pickers, and when Soren, seeing he was about to be separated by his brother, tried to reach out to him...but Kludd, for some reason he could not name to this day, denied ever knowing him.

Upon that denial, he had begun down his path as a Pure One, as he had grown from a defense-less owlet into a tempered, loyal, and possibly ruthless soldier within the army, capturing the attention and approval of the Metalbeak and Nyra, while developing a rivalry with a grass owl he met during training named Nix...but all the while, unbeknownst to him, he felt something else grew within him...something that frightened him. It was this something he felt as he had gotten Grimble, a Boreal Owl who was forced to work for the Pure Ones for the sake of his family, killed as he helped his brother and the elf owl escape, denying himself it when given the chance, and even went on to moonblink (a method used to enslave owls by forcing them to sleep under the moonlight, nullifying their mind) his sister. That feeling continued to haunt him when the Guardians, after learning of the Pure Ones' stealing of owlets, went to stop them, getting caught in the blue tendrils of the flecks (a magnetic material that tampered with an owl's gizzard, rendering them useless to do anything), conspired by Metalbeak and a traitorous Guardian by the name of Allomere, and when Soren came to save them, flying through a burning forest with a lamp of fire and sending it upon the mechanism that exposed the flecks, and freeing him.

As he saw Soren, he felt a different set of feelings that all circulated in his heart: anger, hatred, envy, and most of all...pain... all of which pushed him to confront as the two owls fought within the burning forest of Beaks. As hard as the barn owl fought, he was eventually defeated, his wing broken, and hanging off his brother over fire. He tried to plead his brother to help him up...but as if another owl had taken over him, he appealed to the good owl's heart, and when he saw a branch he could grab on, he attempted to kill him once more...but he failed...and as a result, he fell into the fire, barely surviving with nothing more than a bad burnt scar that now marked his face.

When that happened, Kludd felt himself become a new owl...an owl who desired two things beyond everything else...power...and vengeance, and everything else, his parents, his nursemaid, even his little sister Eglantine, became obsolete...and his brother...he became the sole object of all his hatred. He returned to the Pure Ones, forced to hide away as their king was slain by his brother, leaving them as a ship without a captain, a position not even Nyra, who herself was devastated by her mate's death, could fulfill. However, fate was at play, as Kludd, returning with the helm of their dead ruler, was made king. This began a whole new chapter in his life, as over the year that followed, he tried with all his might to carry out his plan of vengeance and destroy his brother, the first time by taking a group of the Ga'Hoole's Search and Rescue chaw captive, just so he could face him one on one. Even though it was a good plan (in a evil sort of way), it failed, mostly to the complication of Soren trying to appeal to him, trying to bring out the side of him that he thought dead, and when he mentioned his parents...he losted it, and was so focused on killing him, that he was blindsided by his crush, a Short Eared Owl named Otulissa, and with her, a group of Guardians.

Even though that plan failed, it did not stopped Kludd, as he spent the remnant of the year contemplating his thoughts as to how he would defeat him once and for all. As the year progresses, he felt himself grow more and more numb, anger and pain nearly consuming his heart, turning him into an owl that was almost as heartless as Metalbeak was...and it would seem that his heart would be consumed by those emotions, sending him into complete and utter devastation...had it not been for the intervention of fate once more.

It all started one night, almost exactly a year after Metalbeak's death, when Kludd, merely pondering his corrupted thoughts, was visited by a strange snowy owl known as Samuel. He claimed to be a starseer, an owl gifted with the ability of starsight, the power to see the future through dreams, and even goes on to tell him that he knew everything about him. Furthermore, he went on to tell him of his future, saying that a being with darkness much greater than himself, would come here and take over, and that he and Nyra (who he had grown to love) would have to band together with the brother he hated oh so much in order to defeat him…and in doing so, would find what his heart truly desired.

Of course, Kludd did not believe him, and arrogantly brushed him off, refusing to accept this so-called 'prophecy'. However, he was proved dead wrong when an intruder came into the kingdom, an owl that was known as Skarmoris, who had slain a good number of their soldiers on his way in, and despite all his efforts, he and Nyra were defeated by him and his two soldiers, and to make matters worse, when he tried to plead to Nix for help, the grass owl betrayed them, and all the other Pure Ones, greatly intimidated or awed by his battle prowess, bowed to him, forcing him and Nyra to escape (with the help of the old starseer, of course).

Shocked that a part of the prophecy came true, Kludd and Nyra, seeing how there was no other way, went to Ga'Hoole, again led by Samuel (who only Kludd could see), only to accidentally run into Soren, who had been visited by the old owl as well that night, and crashed into the feast celebrating Metalbeak's defeat. After the dust settled, Kludd managed to meet with the Parliament, begrudgingly pleading for their help…but in the end, despite his objections, he was joined by his brother and the band, as well as the Lyze of Keil, and the hour that followed, the group of seven was soon sent off to the Pillar of Supremacy, the old training grounds of the Pure Ones shortly before Metalbeak's uprising.

The alliance was very shaky at first, as Kludd wanted nothing to do with his brother and the band and was more focused on getting his vengeance upon Skarmoris. But their adventure had really sent them for a loop, as they were nearly eaten by a black racer, retelling his favorite story of his as an owlet, 'The Two Brothers of The North', captured by a group of bandits led by a bad red-tailed hawk named Harris, and caught in a thunderstorm within the infamous crags of Labyrinth Peaks, and over those events, Kludd actually grew to get used to the group and actually began to feel the same way he did before the whole Pure Ones incident…but that did not changed his goal to take back his kingdom, and it was only hardened when he overheard the words spoken by his love Nyra, who was faced with her own turmoil of emotions regarding his past before Metalbeak, and feared that Kludd would become as heartless as her mate after he became Metalbeak, and his brother Soren, who had recently learn that he had starsight, receiving an image of his brother killing him, and deeply upset that he would lose his brother again, he went on to call his brother a monster. These words he heard nearly broke him, and seeing how there was apparently nothing left for him, he was more than willing to take back his kingdom.

Eventually, the group made it to the Pillar of Supremacy, and after sneaking past the soldiers, and settling the score with Nix, who had wanted an equivalent amount of vengeance on him ever since his days as a soldier, they finally met Skarmoris again. But the dark owl was actually anticipating their arrival, and went on to reveal himself as Maurice, an owl who once served alongside Nyra and Metalbeak as a Pure One, before he was banished for trying to convince Nyra to abandon her mate, who had grown into a owl so evil. He even told them about himself, how he was abandoned as a baby owlet, and how he grew up being feared because of his roots to his father, who was revealed to be the Deathbringer, an evil owl who had once terrorized the kingdoms thirty years back, and how after his banishment, how he had grown into the owl the seven heroes saw before them. He also revealed that he held deep feelings for Nyra, and requested that she joined him in his ultimate conquest. Nyra refused, seeing that the owl she once knew was no more. Hurt, but nonetheless undeterred, he sent his two men who lied in waiting upon the heroes, capturing all but the three barn owls, as Skarmoris was prepared to initiate his ultimate plan, and Kludd was about ready to stop him...but the dark owl had an ace up his sleeve...

Earlier that night, he had sent Nix and the two Long Eared Owl cousins to bring his and Soren's family here to the pillar, so that at the right moment, Skarmoris could break the once Pure One owl down further by revealing Kludd as Metalbeak, a secret that was kept by his brother and the band in order to spare his parents the horror and shock of his evil doings, ripping off the helm of an owl he respected and smashing it into two fragments. Naturally, the family was shocked, but most of them were actually pleased to see him again...the key word being 'most', as Noctus, his father, was outraged, not to mention disappointed. The father even went on to ask him why he would do such a thing...that question was what did it for Kludd, as many years of pent-up anger, jealousy, and pain within him finally released. Kludd practically screamed that everything that he had done was to finally be recognized...and one thing led to another, and before he knew it, he had his brother at sword point (with a sword he looted from Nix), ready to finish what he had started a year ago, thinking it would finally make him happy...

But when it came down to it, Kludd...simply couldn't do it...no matter how much he tried to focus, he could not do it...it was as if his heart had finally reached out to him after all these years, and as memories of all the good times in his life flowed into his mind that moment...he broke down. For the first time in a long time, he cried...and now as he looked back on it, it was the first step to healing his pain. While everyone else were quite surprised by his 'vulnerability', Skarmoris merely mocked him, saying he was weak, going on to knock him down and prepare to end him...had not Eglantine, not willing to see her brother die, stood up for him. Despite her courage, this diverted his attention towards her, as he was going to eat her…but Kludd, his mind and heart finally set straight, valiantly attacked Skarmoris, saving his sister and revealing the side of him once lost to his family and friends…but this moment of selflessness lead to a catalyst of events, as Kludd and Skarmoris squared in what could be one of the most grueling fights in his life as his family and friends escaped the pillar (after of course dealing with some lingering nuisances), and soon enough, Soren, unwilling to leave Kludd alone with the monster, joined him in his fight. It wasn't before long that Soren and Kludd had Skarmoris in a corner, weakened by exhaustion, only to grow worse as his entire army was decimated, crushed by the pillar, whose base was finally eroded away from the constant waves. Defeated, the Sulawesi Masked Owl fell to the sea, prompting the two brothers to think he committed suicide…

But, what happened next still baffled the scarred Tyto to tonight, for Skarmoris, during his fall to the ocean, was taken over by an evil deity that was within Skarmoris's soul since a few years back, a being who once terrorized the kingdom…a hagsfiend known as the Deathbringer. It was then that Kludd and Soren was thrown into yet another awful fight, as the unholy owl proved to be more than a match for the two…but it wasn't till Kludd and Soren intertwine their attacks and utilize the ability of gizzard flight, passed down by the wise Ezylryb, that they bested the beast, bringing Skarmoris back to his normal self, and after a bit of bitter remarks, the two brothers went to return to their family, leaving the broken owl to his own device…but the Deathbringer was not finished, as in one last attempt to kill them, he taken over Skarmoris's body again, and against his will, he charged at the two brothers with his silver sword in talon. They tried to get out of the way, but Soren, extremely weakened by the fight, tripped, and unable to flee in time. Seeing how his brother would die, Kludd retaliated by stabbing the owl, effectively killing both Maurice and Deathbringer…but in the process, suffering a nearly fatal wound.

Kludd took a glance at his abdomen, where a minor scar was, and let out a relieved sigh, he was lucky to have Soren and the others, for they were un-willing to give up on him, even though he lost a lot of blood, and an hour later, by utilizing a thermal that _happen_ to be blowing that night, he was taken back to Ga'Hoole, where a kindly elderly Whiskered Screech Owl named Alice tended to him, much to the objections of the other owls, namely LaRoche, who had revealed that he was Metalbeak to the old tree…well, at least, from what Soren and the others told him, as he was already unconscious before they found the thermal. It was only a few hours (according to them) later that he had woken up, with Nyra crying into his feathers. It was a joyous reunion, as he was with everyone he loved again…but it was short-lived, as Ezylryb, who was talking to the Parliament about him in his slumber, brought Boron, the king of Ga'Hoole, to speak with him, his brother, and Nyra. Despite how intimidating he was, in both appearance and tone of voice, he simply explained that both Kludd and Nyra's noble deeds that night that drawn the attention of the Parliament and after much deliberation, a verdict was made: Kludd and Nyra would be permitted to take up residence in the Ga'Hoole Tree, and even more so, to train under them to become Guardians.

It had been about six or so months since that night, as he was now a Guardian-in-training, learning the ropes of being a noble knight. Heck, he was actually living in a hollow of his own, alongside with the most beautiful owl he had ever…Kludd's thoughts stopped when he realized something…Nyra was not in the hollow with him. Kludd took a quick glance around as the terror he felt from that nightmare returned momentarily, even glancing out his hollow in hopes of finding her…

Then suddenly, he remembered when he was, prompting Kludd to let out another heavy sigh…tonight was the night of his and Nyra's wedding.

It was when he was close to waking up when he heard Nyra's proposal to him to be his mate, and given how much he cared for her, even willing to lead the Pure Ones to be worthy of her, the first word he said when he woke up was 'yes'. Sure, one would find it odd that an owl like Nyra, who was much older than Kludd, would fall in love with each other, but there were so many things that brought the two together, as they were both there for each other at their darkest moment, and even though they were both on a dark path, they trekked it together, rather than on their own. It was this adventure they had six months back that brought a side of Nyra that not even he knew she had to light, a side that was actually…caring and loving. With all that said, Kludd had secretly been waiting for this night.

Wedding plans were starting to be arranged a month after the proposal, and positions were given. Twilight and Madame Plonk would serve as musical entertainment, Boron, to serve as a priest to wed them, Gylfie, Otulissa, and Strix Struma to serve as bridesmaids, as they were the sole three females that Nyra had grown to get along with (Otulissa, he still wasn't sure of), and to serve as his best owl, his brother Soren. It was over the next few months that it was coming together, for despite his past as a Pure One, many of the owls in the tree were willing to lend a talon in helping, especially Bubo, who would be one of his favorite rybs, as he was actually the most friendliest to him out of the other owls, treating him like a friend would to another. And even more surprisingly, LaRoche, the owl who was strongly against him and Nyra (and still was), had been making his job to see that was everything was planned perfectly.

And now, Kludd remembered when he was told that it was customary that the groom and bride are separated a few nights before the wedding. The scarred Tyto did not know the details as to why that was so, but nonetheless, he hadn't seen his Nyra much that week. But luckily, that was about to change, as tonight, was the night he would finally fulfilled the promise he made to Nyra over a year ago to make her his queen…although it would only be metaphorically, he still meant it. This was going to be his night…and he was happy…

At least, he was…the daymare he just had made sure of that.

Kludd merely glanced to his right towards a wall. It was nothing special with the exception of a sole piece of metal hung on the wall…this said metal was none other than the remaining fragment of Metalbeak's helm (the other one being destroyed by Skarmoris when he smashed it), it's copper-like blackness shining from the little bit of sunlight that shone through. When Kludd and Nyra first nested here, it was under a mutual agreement between them that they hung Metalbeak's helm there, for despite all the evil that came from it, it was the only remaining piece of memory of the owl they both respected and loved, Surtr. The scarred Tyto slowly approached the metal piece, and shuddered…that daymare he had witnessed was not the first one he had…the thought of his darkness turning him into…whatever it was he become in that dream, had plagued him for months. It all started when he heard those words from Maurice before his death…

"_Mark my words, Kludd…your darkness will find you, no matter where you go…and when you least expect it, it will burn you from the inside…and you won't even recognize yourself when it does._"

Although he chalked it up to him just trying to get into his head…he could not help but feel that something about those words could be true. The Kludd he saw, the one with the golden eyes, much like the Deathbringer…he slaughtered everyone without as much as a second glance, even Nyra meant nothing to him. As he looked back, he saw what it had done to both Surtr and Maurice…Surtr was once an venerable and kind owl…but when he lost his beak and his dignity, darkness, ever the one with false promises, seized him and thus birthed Metalbeak, who terrorized the kingdoms the next few years…and then there was Maurice, who's love for Nyra became riddled with envy and hatred, making him a perfect host for the Deathbringer to take over him. It frightened the barn owl that had not Samuel came to him that night, he would have ended up like them…but what to say he still won't? What if darkness was not through with him yet? What then?

Kludd merely slapped himself out of that thought; he was being ridiculous. He had changed, he was now working to become a Guardian, and tonight, he was going to be mated with the owl who had kept him from succumbing completely to this 'darkness', as he had for her, and he had his family and his friends behind him as well. He remembered what Samuel said before he ascended to the afterlife, that they would always be together. Besides, he had made a lot of progress since then, and it was just plain stupid of him to just assume that darkness can change all that.

Seeing how it was still early out, the barn owl simply went back to his nest of moss and letting out a deep sigh, he simply laid in it. It was still a hour or so before he would start preparing for what will be one of his greatest moments in his life, and it would do anyone no good if he just stayed up fretting about meaningless things. So, with a yawn, he returned to his slumber, secretly praying that he would not meet that demon with the yellow eyes again, that he would continue his new-found life without so much as a problem…but little did he know that there was another storm coming…

* * *

**A/N: Okay, that's chapter two biting the dust! TearfulFriend18, if you are reading this, I must confess…it was your daymares in Skies of Darkness that inspired the daymare you had just read. I don't know whether to give this story a M-Rating right now or when we get to the even scarier parts that might follow. Please take note that the entries of ITD will not be in chronological order, as you will see later on. Also note that I made a change to the OC cast list in the last chapter, as I do not want to give anything away yet. For those wanting to see the wedding, that will be in the next two chapters…and you are all invited. :) READ AND REVIEW!**

**Artworks stuff is appreciated, deeply appreciated.**


	3. The First Step Into Eternity

**A/N: All right, it is time to get chapter three over with, as we finally meet up with all our heroes!**

**REVIEW RESPONSES**

**ashthetyto:** Why, thank you. Dark was what I was hoping to achieve.

**sailor-starlight101:** Yes, there will certainly be parts that will be scary.

**FtDLutz:** Your welcome.

**Godzilla Fan 2012:** Thank you.

**jjhatter:** Thank you for your very long review, it was fun to read. But you found chapter one to be too long? Dude, it was 3,000 words, even shorter than the first chapter in Between Brothers. I'm glad you are growing fond of Nix, I am starting to get attached to him myself.

**sonicfighter21354:** Thank you, the dream was pretty chilling.

**Elete12:** I agree with you…although I never thought Halo 4 would be rated M for scenes that were less gory than the dream.

**Synchronized Harmony:** I'm touched you find that you found it dreadful [;)]. I will try my best.

**X1Mobius:** Thank you, the dream really surprised everyone. And don't be too quick to judge LaRoche, there is more to him than meets the eyes.

**Thekiller10:** Thank you, I appreciate your enthusiasm!

**LydeaBlaze:** Will do!

**I do not own Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole and their beloved characters**

**I do own Harris, Fatal, LaRoche, Pip, and Alice, as well as my interpretation of the character in this chapter.**

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Chapter Three: The First Step Into Eternity

INSIGHT INTO THE THEOLOGY OF DARKNESS

DATE: Copper-Rose Rain, Month 2, Day 14, Year 720

SUBJECT: The Line of Morality

Good and evil…such a trifling thought when you thought about it.

For nearly two decades I had studied the two ultimate representatives of these two beliefs, the ever so noble Guardians and the now treacherous and horrid Pure Ones. As I studied darkness, I had learned that these two groups have complete opposing views of this ideal.

The Guardians see it as nothing more than evil, nothing more than a corrupting agent that plagued the souls of many like a virus, destroying their identity and turning them into nothing more than a shadow, black and hollow, like an eternal void…suffering a fate far worse than death. But despite their honorable beliefs, their thoughts of darkness and unwillingness to see what lies in darkness make them no more than cowards.

However, the Pure Ones, they see darkness as power…which is understandable, as without emotion and conscience, you become unbounded, able to accomplish anything that your mind is set to, and not feel guilt or shame in what you done…something that kept the darkest beings such as the great Lord Metalbeak alive after his horrid defeat in the Battle of The Ice Claws…but it came with a heavy price, a price that he paid with his soul…and his life.

When it came to darkness, I had come to the conclusion of what define us and darkness. It is similar to standing before a fork in a crossroad…we can choose to fear darkness for the sake of our identity, but regret never knowing what lied within the alternate path…or we can accept it, and embrace it's power and brilliance, and rise to great heights…but lose pieces of our ourselves along the way, no longer recognizing who we are.

This was what birthed the famous 'line of morality', a proverbial divide that differentiate us good owls from the evil owls. Which side we take is not a decision we make, but what was laid out for us the moment we hatch, and no matter how much you can say otherwise, you can't change it. If you are meant for great things, you are in luck…but if they seen something dark in you, although you deny it yourself, although you try to prove them wrong…you will end up becoming one of many pawns within darkness's chess game. The notion of the word 'redemption' is nothing more than lies…evil cannot become good, and good cannot become evil, therefore, the 'Line' cannot be broken…at least, not without the gravest of consequences. This was proven many times within my studies, as specimens such as the Boreal Owl Grimble, an owl who was forced against their will to break the 'Line', met his untimely end, as well as the great king Metalbeak, who had descended into madness and died. Furthermore, another owl, which grew weary of his side of morality, tries to accept darkness as it was his old friend…but in the end, was destroyed for the fraud he was… serves that mangy fuck right…

Excuse my coarse word in that last sentence…to this day, I still hadn't forgiven him for what he done to me…and now that he was dead for a month…I could not be happier. Regardless, it was shown that those who try to descend into darkness dies in the end…therefore; it goes to say that those who try to accomplish the opposite will meet their ends eventually. There had been no evidence of this…but from I had witnessed, the attempts of breaking this line had been in only one direction into the depths of darkness…and I am confident that it will remain that way.

Redemption is nothing more than words of a naïve fool.

Entry End

V.

* * *

The moon began to rise, beginning the night at the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, as owls started to arise from their slumber and start their nightly routines as citizens of the old tree, be they a mere resident of the tree or a Guardian, rising up every night to perform good deeds. However, as mentioned before, tonight was a momentous night for a special Barn Owl as he was to be wed to a beautiful owl. As happy as Kludd was that this day had finally come, he was growing nervous, which was natural for most grooms before their wedding, and his daymare from earlier did not help his case. He was lucky enough to had not suffer another one when he returned to sleep, but the daymare left him shaken still…all he could think of were those golden eyes he saw in dream's self, the cold, bloodlusting, merciless eyes…they reminded him so much of the Deathbringer when he and him exchanged stabs, seeing the soulless orbs of yellow stare into his own eyes, piercing him in the soul…those eyes plagued his mind so much that he did not notice the call of his brother's voice as he then shook him.

"Kludd!"

"Huh?" The scarred Tyto jolted as he looked to his brother, whose beak was marked with concern.

"I was wondering if you were alright, brother…" Soren asked, "You seemed to be out of it."

"Oh." Kludd muttered, cursing himself for blanking out, "I'm fine, Soren…just tired is all."

"Did you not get much sleep?" The young barn owl questioned.

"I guess not. I simply must be anxious about tonight." He lied, not wanting to concern his brother with these dreams. For all he knew, these dreams would be nothing than that, dreams.

Fortunately, his brother did not see through it, as he smiled, "I don't blame you, Kludd, it is not everyday that you get married."

"Yeah…married…" Kludd lightly chuckled, before letting out a sigh. The more he heard the word 'married', the more anxious his gizzard become. Fortunately, it was just him and his brother in his hollow, as the two were prepping for the wedding. Definition: Soren was making sure that his brother did not collapse due to nervousness as his duty as his brother and his best owl, chosen by Kludd himself.

Soren could easily sense how tense his words were as he said, "You need to relax, Kludd, this is just your wedding…"

"I know." Kludd sighed, "But tonight I am taking a very big step...and it scares me...a whole lot."

"It will be fine, Kludd. You had came a good way since six months ago...and besides, I doubt marrying the once queen of the Pure Ones is more frightening than going talon to talon with a hagsfiend." He attempted to joke, hoping it would lighten his mood...but judging by his brother's grim stare, it did not...and as he thought about it, he figured it wouldn't, as he shudder at the memory of that hagsfiend. The Deathbringer was indeed one of the scariest owls that he and Kludd had ever faced, and from what they witnessed in their fight, they both decided to not tell anyone about him coming back, to create the assumption that they only fought Skarmoris...which was only half-true...but regardless, it did not change how haunted they were by the hagsfiend.

Feeling the need to change the subject, Soren merely said, "I wonder what is taking the others so long."

"Well, you know Digger and Twilight…they're probably goofing off somewhere…" Kludd muttered.

"Who's goofing where?" A voice dumbly asked, prompting Kludd and Soren to look at the entrance to find a burrowing owl (the origin of the voice) and a great gray owl coming in.

"Nothing, Digger." Soren answered, "I was wondering where you two got off to."

"Getting something to eat." Digger replied simply, prompting a roll of Kludd and Soren's eyes, of course Digger would make breaklight his number one priority, "But it was hard to eat while listening to Twilight play his darn lute…" Digger continued as he glared at Twilight, his great gray friend, who was appalled.

"Well, excuse me, Digger! I was getting in some last-minute practice before the wedding, Madame Plonk was strongly insistent that I was at my best." Twilight growled.

"Then why you picked me to listen to you?!" Digger snapped, "The first thing I would ever want to hear in the dusk is the sound of food going down my throat or Gylfie, not that infernal racket!"

"Oh will you just give it a blow about Gylfie?! You and her had only been dating for six months, and just because she is busy helping our other Pure One friend this morning and unable to spend time with you is no reason to take out your anger on my music!" Twilight bellowed.

"Why, you mangy sprink…!" Digger yelled as the two began one of their many arguments.

Soren and Kludd merely watched in amusement as the two fought. The scarred Tyto could not help but see the resemblances between him and Soren and those two; despite Digger and Twilight being different species, those two acted like they were brothers at birth, and even though they fought, it was merely light-hearted, and the two would simply brush it off like it was nothing. Kludd wished he could have such a relationship as good as theirs with his brother, for all of last year and possibly a year or two before, he had spent loathing Soren, and when he had became Metalbeak, he made it his ultimate goal to end him. Even though he had no longer decided to pursue that goal (and not a moment too soon, he might add), he still regretted ever trying to act on those thoughts. Soren said that he had forgiven him and always will, he could not stop feeling that Soren still held a bit of mistrust and hate towards him, which he could understand. He did almost take away his girl-made-fiancé Otulissa as well as Eglantine, their sister, away from him…but regardless, Soren treated him like his older brother back before being snatched by the Pure Ones.

"Here's an idea, pal! You need to stop parading Gylfie around like she some sort of prize, and take after me and Strix!" Twilight bellowed in Digger's face.

"Don't be a hypocrite, Twilight! At least I don't obsess over my girl like a fan boy!" Digger countered, pressing against his beak. Twilight growled in response to his insult.

"Uh, guys?" Soren meekly asked, feeling the need to stop them, "Could we focus on my brother here? It is _his_ wedding tonight."

"Huh?" Digger and Twilight turned to the brothers, their anger immediately disappearing, and upon seeing Kludd, they realized what Soren meant, as Twilight gasped, "Oh, right! How is the lucky lad faring tonight?!"

"Not well." Kludd answered quietly, "I am just feeling a bit nervous is all…"

"That's all? Well, I have a sure-fire remedy for that! A fine wet-poop joke oughta cheer you up!" Digger cheered.

"Digger, please, our friend does not need to hear one of your dull jokes. What he really needs is a good dosage of my music!" Twilight suggested as he held up his lute.

"No! No more!" Digger snapped, "You will just make things worse for him!"

"Oh, and I'm sure listening to jokes about seagulls is any better!" Twilight sarcastically smarmed.

"Laughter is the best medicine!" Digger defended.

"Yeah…only if your jokes were funny to begin with!" Twilight sneered.

"Guys!" Kludd shouted, growing sick of their bickering, immediately drawing the two arguing owls' attention once more, seeing the exasperated look on his face. "With all due respect, even after six months and all I've been through, I still don't find both your jokes and music amusing!" Twilight and Digger gaped in shock, as Kludd lowered his voice, "And even if I did, it probably wouldn't make me feel any better about this."

"Well, I'm sorry, Kludd…but honestly, you need to take it easy a bit…" Digger suggested.

"Digger's right. I am pretty sure Nyra is feeling just as nervous about it as well." Soren agreed.

"I don't know if I can…" The scarred Tyto muttered.

"It's quite simple, lad." Twilight reassured, "All you must do is…well, do it. And you are home free, for there are two steps in the mating ceremony: step one, the wedding itself (can't skip that part, y'know), and then step two…" He trailed off as he gestured to Kludd, who was _well_ aware of what he was suggesting, but was hesitant of answering.

"I will have to…to…er…" Kludd tried to say, but the next few words just felt so wrong to his gizzard.

"Oh, come now, chap! Just say it, it will make you loads better!" Twilight encouraged.

Kludd let out a frustrated sigh at Twilight's insistence to say something he felt he wasn't ready to say, but just to satisfy him, he tried, hoping that it would help, "I will…have to…m-m-ma…_mate _with her." As soon as he said it, he zipped his beak shut, quite embarrassed by what he just said. Here he was, moments from marrying the love of his life, and already is he speaking of doing _unspeakable_ things to his soon-to-be mate. It was not the fact of doing it that scared him (he knew clear well that it was part of owl courtship), but to say it right now just seemed wrong to him.

Upon seeing the glance on Kludd's face, Digger immediately sensed his discomfort and snapped at the Great Gray, "Oh, that's just great, Twilight, now you got him even more nervous! You know how some owls are when it comes to _those_ kinds of things!"

"Well, _excuse _me for trying to ease the lad!" Twilight grunted as he closed in on the burrowing owl's face again.

"Come on, guys!" Soren groaned as he inched his way between the two bickering owls, "We shouldn't be fighting, not tonight!"

"That is right, son."

Kludd and Soren perked up as they looked to the hollow entrance, where a bigger barn owl entered the hollow with something draped over his shoulder. It was Noctus, Kludd and Soren's father. Upon seeing the older owl, Twilight and Digger ceased their arguments, but not before exchanging one last bitter glare.

"Oh, hello, Da." Soren greeted, quite grateful that he arrived when he did.

"Hey there, Soren. How's Kludd doing?" Noctus asked, as he noticed the worried glance on his eldest son's face.

"Not so well, I'm afraid. Just a bit of pre-wedding jitters, I think." The younger Tyto explained.

"I see." Noctus said, "Soren. Could you and the two boys excuse me and Kludd for a moment?"

"Of course, da." Soren nodded as he turned to Digger and Twilight with an ordering glance that the two easily knew that he wanted them to leave with him. With that, the three owls left, leaving the two barn owls alone in the hollow.

Noctus took a glance at Kludd, taking note of the concern etched in his son's face, as he let out a sigh, shaking his head with a smile.

"So, what seems to be the problem, son?" Noctus asked, secretly relishing being able to say the word son to his eldest one, given how he thought he was dead for about a year.

Kludd looked up at his father, and deeply calculating his thoughts into words, he simply said, "It's just that…I'm scared…I mean, I know I love her…but…" Kludd groaned inwardly as he continued, "I made so many mistakes in my life…and I'm afraid…that I might mess this up. That I might ruin it…" He finished, as he looked downward again, a bit embarrassed of being scared like this.

The father gave a look of sympathy upon his eldest son's plight, and only chuckled as he firmly placed a wing around him, as Kludd glanced up to his father again, feeling a bit of warmth enveloped him.

"Oh, Kludd. I was just like you when I was getting married to your mother. And I was just as scared as you are right now when it came to mating, afraid that I would mess something up. And just like us right now, my father took me aside and told me to do one thing and one thing alone." Noctus said in a reassuring tone.

"What?" Kludd asked, actually curious.

"To trust my gizzard." Noctus answered simply, "It is like I told you back then, it is feeling through our gizzards that the voices of the ages speak to us, and tell us what is right."

Normally years before, Kludd would have simply scoffed at this and said it was nothing more than gibberish…but after the epiphanies he had over six months ago, he had finally learned to accept some of his father's teachings, and honestly, he could use the comfort in his words. Still, he felt a bit uneasy.

"I don't know, Da…I don't think I can…" Kludd confessed.

"Kludd, Kludd…" Noctus soothed, as he unfurls his wing from around him and placed them firmly on his shoulders, "In the time I known you, you had grown from a young owlet into a fine, young owl, and like you, I was apprehensive at first. But you must realize that although the mating process is intimidating at first, it is actually quite simple. Let me ask you this, Kludd…how much do you love Nyra?"

"More than anything!" Kludd answered instantly, "More than anyone can possibly imagine."

"Well, I may have not known Nyra for a while now, but I do know that she loves you as much as you love her, and if she didn't, she wouldn't had asked you in the first place. To be mates with someone is to say that you're each other's true love and that you want to spend the rest of your life with each other. And mating, in an actual relationship, is meant to strengthen the bonds between them. Heed my words, Kludd, if you could defeat Skarmoris, you can certainly do this." Noctus finished as he gave a smile to his son.

In that moment, Kludd's nervousness evaporated, ignoring the shuddering he got when he heard the name Skarmoris, for it reminded him of Deathbringer, as he looked up at his father, "Thank you, Da. You're right. I can do this. I'm ready…"

"Glad to hear it, son." Noctus nodded, as he then suddenly grabbed the 'thing' that was draped over his shoulder by the string, "Here, I brought you this." He placed the object on Kludd, who was confused at first, but after Noctus finished placing it on him, Kludd looked at the thing and let out a silent gasp.

It was a wedding cloak, ones commonly used by owls when they are getting married. This one in particular was green, color faded from being aged, and on the back was what seemed to be an intricate insignia of an owl, a Tyto owl to be exact.

"Wow…da…this is…well…" Kludd tried to word, but was unable to.

"I know." The elder barn owl nodded, "This cloak belonged to your grandfather when he was married, and when I was being married to your mother, he gave this cloak to me…and now son, it's your turn. And do know…I am proud of you."

Kludd smiled at his father as he heard those last five words. He had strived to hear those words from his father for so long, even pushing him to become Metalbeak. Ever since after he recovered from his wounds, he could easily tell that his father was trying to make up for all the lost time and all the neglect he had caused him, while he himself tried to make it up to him as well. But now, as he heard those words, he could not help but beamed with pride.

"Thanks, father…" Kludd nodded, the word 'father' finally sinking in.

Soren, who was watching the scene with a smile of his own, came in and asked, "Are you ready, Kludd?"

Kludd and Noctus took a glance at Soren, and then at each other, as the scarred Tyto gave another nod, "I'm ready. Let us go." With that, the two Tytos left the hollow, as Kludd, now reassured, was ready…ready to take the first step towards the rest of his life…all the while wondering how Nyra was faring right now at this moment…

* * *

Meanwhile, in a hollow on the opposite side of the tree, a barn owl was dealing with her own bout of nervousness as she was unintentionally tapping her right claw in a nervous tick. Nyra let out a heavy sigh. The good news was that she was not as nervous as her male counterpart was, but still, it did not change the awkward feeling in her gizzard.

That said feeling was nothing new to her, however. Ever since she was allowed to live here, she always had felt uneasy, which was completely understandable, I mean, it is not every day that the queen of the feared enemies of the Guardians is living in the same tree as you. As she lived here, she had always been feeling like that she didn't belong here, being subjected to gazes of fear, distrust, and sometimes, anger. Of course, her to-be mate Kludd had to deal with these as well, but in his case, it was not as bad, which was also understandable, as he was brother to Soren, a trusted Guardian, while she was once mate to Metalbeak, or as she used to call him, Surtr, the king of the Pure Ones.

Because of what become of her mate, she had done a lot of horrible things in the last couple of years, from kidnapping to murder. Heck, the last few murders she committed still lingered in her mind, with images of Grimble, the owl that they forced to join the Pure Ones, killed when he helped Soren and Gylfie escaped, Allomere, the traitor who she had sent the bats upon to feast on upon realizing the arrival of the band, and finally, Biggs, one of Maurice's (who was her friend) henchowl, who she went a claw through to save Soren from his vengeful wrath for killing his younger brother, Wedge. Now, as it was hard for her to believe, she was now being trained to become a Guardian alongside her fiancé, herself a completely different owl in comparison to the one she was a few months back, and was moments away from being mated to her new love. But still, she cannot help but feel that bit of guilt pervading her soul…the king, Boron, said she and Kludd would find a way to make up for all the awful things they done…but the question lingered, how could she-

"Nyra?"

Nyra snapped out of her own thoughts as she looked to the Elf Owl, known as Gylfie, who was looking at her with a confused look, and she was not the only one, for in the hollow they were staying in (courtesy of Gylfie's, which was actually quite a good size for an Elf Owl), there was her, Gylfie, and two Short-Eared Owls, who was gazing at her with the same expression, although the shorter of the two owls looked as if she wasn't as curious as the rest.

"Are you feeling okay? You were staring off into the distance for a moment there." Gylfie asked.

The white barn owl merely flushed in embarrassment, "Sorry…I guess I blanked out there for a moment."

"Well, you shouldn't be, tonight is your special night!" Gylfie explained with a cheer in her voice.

"I know that." Nyra nodded, "I guess I am just a bit nervous, especially since I hadn't seen Kludd all week."

"Well, that's understandable, lass." Nyra turns to face the taller Short-Eared Owl, whose name was Strix Struma, ryb of the navigation chaw, as well as the warrior chaw. "But don't worry, just a hour or so more and you and the lad can spend the rest of yer lives together."

Nyra couldn't help but smirk, out of all of the owls in the Ga'Hoole tree (Kludd, his family, and the band excluded), Strix had taken quite a liking to the Tyto, and admired her finesse in battle, which was actually a lot better than she had expected (given how most Pure Ones were known for dirty under-talons tactics), and eventually was dubbed one of her favorite students. Even more so, in all this time, Strix never even brought up the past of her wrongdoings, and treated her like she was just a new Guardian-in-training.

"Of course. After all, it's not everyday you get married for the second time." The shorter Short-Eared Owl explained matter-of-factly, a bit of smugness in her voice, prompting a frown from Nyra.

The other Short-Eared was Otulissa, a young Guardian, and to be mate of Soren, Kludd's brother. Unlike her teacher (her favorite one at that), she was not as forgiving of Nyra. Of course, she doesn't hate her, for she was grateful for bringing Soren back to her safely and intact, but Nyra could easily sense the mistrust emanating from her. Why it was that Otulissa was willing to be one of her bridesmaids was beyond her…

"Otulissa…" Gylfie warned.

"No, its fine, Gylfie." Nyra defended, "I must admit, I never did expect to actually find someone after…well, you know…"

"Aye," Strix agreed, "No one should had ever have to go through what you did…"

"Yes…but now, and hopefully, this will be the last time I wed." Nyra said, her heart secretly crossing her talons that it would be true.

"I hope for your sake that you are right," Otulissa explained, "Although I am curious…what was your first wedding like? You know…with _him_?"

Nyra sighed, "Well, it was beautiful…well, for a wedding arranged by an army. It was actually…quite nice, especially how it was all arranged by Maurice…" She paused for a moment when she remembered her old friend, "And the ceremony…being up there with him, his handsome golden eyes looking at me…it was divine…" She closed her eyes as she remembered the details, smiling deeply.

"Were you nervous?" The young short-eared owl asked.

"Oh yes." Nyra said, opening her eyes once more, before frowning, "Although it was not as bad as it is now…"

"How so?" Strix questioned.

"Well…" The white Tyto began, rubbing the back of her head, "At my first wedding, I was surrounded by soldiers that I had trained with and lead…while now…"

"You are surrounded by owls that possibly hate your gizzards?" Otulissa finished in a bored tone.

Gylfie and Nyra looked at the short-eared owl with annoyed glances as Nyra continued, "Yes. Although I don't like to be reminded of it, it is true…" Her annoyed glance dampened, "I wouldn't be surprised if there were someone at the wedding who would want me dead."

"Come on, Nyra, the owls here aren't like that. Sure, they might not like you, but I doubt anyone would go as far as to chuck burning coals in your face." Gylfie tried to cheer her up, only for the white Tyto to shudder at the thought of an owl doing that.

To inadvertently making matter worse, Strix added, nervously chuckling, "But on the outside chance that they do…I had Bubo locked away all the coals."

"How comforting…" Nyra muttered, not feeling a bit better at all.

Gylfie, Strix, and Otulissa shared concerned glances, as Gylfie tried to cheer her up, "It will be alright, Nyra. You have us, Digger, Twilight, Soren, and better yet, you have Kludd. As an owl once said, 'Those who mind doesn't matter, and those who matter don't mind.'"

"The lass's right. The only owls you need to be concerned with are yer friends." Strix agreed.

"Indeed." Otulissa nodded, ditching her bored attitude, "Kludd is very lucky to have you. Makes me wish that tonight was my wedding."

A small smile appeared on Nyra's beak as a tear strikes her eyes, "Thank you. You're right…"

"Now, lass, no need to get emotional. Tonight is a night to be happy!" Strix soothed, "All we need is to add the finishing touch and you will be ready!"

Just as Strix Struma said the last sentence, another owl, a barn owl, with a red cloak draped over her shoulder, along with a young owlet and a blind snake made their way into the hollow. The elder barn owl was Marella, Soren and Kludd's mother, the owlet being Eglantine, her fiancé's little sister, and the snake was Mrs. Plithiver, nursemaid to the family.

"Hi, Nyra! Hi, Ochy! Hi, Gylfie! Hi, Strixy!" Eglantine greeted in a chippy attitude, prompting a small smile from the four females.

"Sorry that we're late. We were adding a couple last touches to the cloak." Marella apologized.

"Oh, it's quite fine, dear." Strix shrugged off, "I take it that a good job was done on it?"

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Mrs. P asked, "Nyra, if you would please."

The white Tyto was a bit hesitant at first when Mrs. P addressed her. She always had a bit of a phobia with snakes, due to their slimy texture and the fact that one could get killed by one bite of their fangs. It certainly didn't help that she and the others were attacked by an unruly Black Racer back in the Poison Briar Bog. Even now, despite many reassurances from her fiancé and her to-be family, she still felt uneasy around the blind snake…

"For Pete's sake, Nyra, she doesn't bite." Otulissa said indignantly, growing impatient.

"Otulissa…" Gylfie warned.

Nyra gave a short glare at Otulissa, but instead of rebutting, she bowed her head, as Marella and Mrs. P unfolded the cloak, and the white Barn Owl eased her head into the cloak's slot. As soon as her head was through, she returned to an upright position. She spread her wings slightly to show off the cloak, "Well? How do I look?"

The other females looked in absolute awe. Despite the owl they were admiring was once their enemy, they were quite awestruck by her beauty. The cloak was a crimson color, a shade or two lighter than the Tyto's brow, and black swirls laced the sides of it while a black insignia of a Tyto was sewn into the middle, much like of her to-be mate's cloak.

"Wow…Lass, you look brilliant…" Strix complimented.

"Yes, I cannot even think of a word that can describe you right now." Gylfie gaped.

"Indeed…" Otulissa trailed off, impressed herself, before muttering to herself, "I cannot wait to see how I would look at my own wedding…"

"An excellent piece of work if I do say so myself." Mrs. P nodded, "It took me, five other snakes, a couple of owls, and lots of silk to create it."

"I can certainly tell." Nyra said as she gave her cloak a twirl, "Although…I feel a bit different…"

"It's called feeling girly, Nyra." Marella explained with a smile, as she sighed, "This certainly brings back old memories of my wedding day."

"You looked pretty, Nyra." Eglantine complimented, herself awed by her beauty.

"Thank you, darling." The white Tyto smiled, quite touched by the little one's compliment.

One of the little lights that shone in her position of being hated and mistrusted by everyone around her was her soon to be sister-in-law, Eglantine. The little owlet took to her older brother's loved one rather quickly, given how the older Tyto saved her from falling to her death while escaping the Pillar, and even though she was not a part of the family yet, Eglantine already treated her like her big older sister. In fact, she endeared her by calling her darling, like her mother once did for her back then.

Nyra gave a deep sigh. She wished that her parents could see her now. Her father died in the line of duty during his service as a Pure One, once an old friend to her late mate Surtr, while her mother suffered a mortal injury to her spine during a freak forest fire that enveloped her home in the Beaks. Since that awful night, she had no family left except her general Surtr and her old friend Maurice, and even then, she had lost them both a while back, leaving her alone once more…but not for long. She was only an hour or so from being mated to Kludd, the owl that stood by her side through the worst…and when they become mates, she will officially become one of the Alba Family, and she would never be alone…not any more.

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice Marella addressing her.

"Uh, Nyra?"

"Hmm?" Nyra snapped back into focus.

"Are you ready for this, dear?" The motherly owl asked, "Feathers preened, cloak donned?"

"Oh, yes, Mrs. Alba." The white Tyto addressed, still not comfortable by addressing her soon-to-be mother in law by her name or by the universal term 'mother', "All I am waiting on now is for the owl to give me away…"

"Did someone mention me?"

All the females quickly turned to the entrance of the hollow to see an old Screech Owl leaning against the hollow's entrance, his usually-ruffled feathers now preened and smooth and the same cocky smirk on his face.

"Ah, Ezylryb, impeccable timing, as usual!" Strix Struma exclaimed.

"Yes, and do you look quite stunning." Marella nodded.

"Thank you, Mrs. Alba. I was merely trying to appear more presentable." Ezylryb shrugged off.

"Oh, you are being too modest, Lyze." Nyra slightly chuckled, "You looked quite nice."

"That I do. But not as nice as you, my dear." Ezylryb let out a silent snigger as he looked Nyra over, "You certainly are shining with radiance. Kludd is one lucky owl to become mates with someone as yourself."

"Lyze, please…" Nyra blushed, "This…all this…it's not that much…"

"Nonsense, Nyra." The Whiskered Screech Owl said, a bit amused by her newfound modesty, "It's the littlest things that make the difference."

"Well…if you say so." Nyra sighed, as she gave a faint smile, "Thank you, Ezylryb…"

"Whatever for?" The old owl asked, although his face seemed to betray his wonder.

"For everything." Nyra answered, her eyes misty with joy "…But mostly for being the one to give me away…"

Ezylryb sighed as he placed a wing on Nyra's shoulder, "It is the least I can do…for an old friend of mine. He would be proud of you, you know, as I am right now of you."

The white Tyto's eyes tear up a bit, before she wiped them quickly, and smiled, "Thank you, Ezylryb." Despite all the differences she had with him, especially given that he was the one that scarred Surtr and humiliate him, she had grown to like and respect the old owl, who had became like a fatherly figure to her. She found it quite laughable that she wanted to kill everyone that were in her presence right now before, and now, she was getting married in the sanctum of her once-enemies. It was a great irony, it was…but honestly, she did not give a damn.

"Well, Nyra…if everyone here is ready…I believe there is an owl waiting for you…as well as a lovely nurse waiting for me…" The old owl added the last part with a chuckle.

All the females merely chuckled as they knew that Ezylryb himself had recently began a relationship with the tree's new nurse, Alice, an elderly Screech Owl who was quite experienced in her line of work, given how she had successfully saved Kludd's life after he suffered his nearly fatal wound, but could be quite as fierce as him when need be…one owl was all too familiar with that. But nonetheless, Ezylryb took Nyra's wing into his own and, followed by everyone in the hollow, the group processed to the wedding hall…

* * *

Due to it being nearly dusk, the halls were practically barren, no one to be seen for a couple of feet. It was a perfect environment for two owls, who were walking through the empty halls towards an unknown destination, to talk in peace.

One of the two owls was quite recognizable, as his feathers were completely snow white with black spots dotting his body, although they were a bit faded with age, and his sage-like expression and his brilliant golden eyes would easily help anyone deduce that the owl was Boron, the king of Ga'Hoole.

The other owl was younger and slightly smaller than Boron, but not by much, and was covered in dark reddish-brown feathers, except around his chest and lower beak, which was a grayish-white. His most notable feature was his two ear tufts, slightly swaying with each step that the young owl takes, thus dubbing him a Northern Great Horned Owl. On his talons were brilliant well-polished copper battle claws, making a metallic click with each tap on the floor.

"I am so glad that you could make it up here." Boron smiled, "I hope things back at Cape Glaux hadn't been too tasking."

The Horned Owl chuckled, "No, everything has been going quite smoothly. Hadn't had much problems in a long while."

"Well that's good to hear, Shard." Boron nodded, "I take it that Parzival and Bryony couldn't make it?"

"Naw." The owl named Shard said, "Parzival is too busy focusing on whether we should focus on hunting or training. Bryony…eheh, she's quite occupied herself."

"Oh, yes, I heard. How are the little ones?" The king questioned with a smile.

"Still hadn't hatched yet." Shard simply answered, "But they are close, I can feel it."

"Yes, it is quite a feeling, being an expectant father, isn't it?" The snowy owl asked.

"Oh yes. But Bryony is more excited then I am." Shard churred, "In fact, she had been obsessing over them like any normal mother would."

"I bet she is. She always had been quite the owl to take care of things. I wouldn't expect any less of the captain of the Tyto Resistance squadron."

"Yeah…" Shard agreed, before looking at him curiously, "But enough about me and my life, how's things here? It must have been a year or two since I've been here."

"Oh, nothing much really. Aside from the fight against Metalbeak, there hasn't been anything worth noting…" Boron shrugged off, before he added, "Well, except for one thing…"

"Yes, I had been hearing rumors back at the Cape…it is true? That you actually took two Pure Ones into your home and accepted them as Guardians-In-Trainings?"

"Indeed." The Snowy Owl nodded, "But not only Pure Ones…the king and queen."

"You don't say!" Shard exclaimed, quite surprised, "Glaux, I must had been gone for about a century or something…"

"Rest assured, I honestly did not believe it myself, but yet it did happen." Boron asked, "Even more shocking, those two are actually getting married tonight."

"Really?" Shard noted, "But how is everyone else in the tree taking it?"

Boron paused for a moment, before continuing, "It could be better…some of the owls are quite happy for the couple…while others…let's just say that the wedding will not in high attendance."

"I see." Shard frowned, before donning a smirk, "Well, I personally would like to meet the two."

"That can be arranged," Boron chuckled, "The wedding is actually being held in the wedding hall in a couple of minutes. You are welcome to attend if you want."

"Oh no, I wouldn't want to impose…" Shard denied, trying to be polite.

"Nonsense! I am sure they wouldn't mind." Boron smiled as he wrapped his right wing around Shard and leads him to the wedding hall.

"Okay…if you say so…" Shard awkwardly answered.

The two made their way to where the wedding is to take place, as Shard let out a silent gasp at the sight. The hall was beautiful, putting it simply. Special, color-stained ornate glass windows laced around the wedding hall, with one giant window behind the altar. Even more so, there were all kinds of flowers, most of them placed in urns at the corner of the room and a trail of them surrounding the altar and around where the guests (Shard presumed) were to stand. Torches were lit as to add a bit of a glow upon the chamber, the light reflecting off the glass windows.

"Wow…" Shard gaped.

"You took the words right out of my mouth, Shard. It seems like LaRoche outdid himself…"

"LaRoche? Who is LaRoche?" The Horned Owl asked, not recognizing the name.

Instead of Boron answering, a loud shout echoed, "NO, NO, NO! THE RIBBONS DON'T GO LIKE THAT!"

Shard jumped as he looked down the hall were the shout came from, only to see a small Elf Owl who was looking up at the ceiling where a couple of owls who were attaching ribbons to the ceiling. It was safe to judge from the angry expression on the Elf Owl's face that the owls with the ribbons weren't doing a good job.

"DAMN IT! WE NEED TO GET THIS PLACE SHIP-SHAPE WHILE WE STILL POSSESS THE CAPABILITIES IN OUR CRANIUMS! SO DO THE RIBBONS AGAIN AND DO IT RIGHT!" LaRoche barked viciously. The other owls quivered in fear as they did as the small owl commanded.

Shard was slightly perturbed by the small owl's temper, as Boron, taking note of his shock, set his mind to ease by saying, "That is our new ryb of the Search And Rescue Chaw and parliament member…LaRoche."

"New ryb?" Shard asked, turning to face Boron, as a troubling thought came to his mind…before shaking it off, "I heard that the tree was to receive a new owl…but…" Shard looked at LaRoche, "When I heard about him, I pictured him a bit…bigger…"

"To be honest…" Boron started as he leans towards Shard, and whispered, "We all did…"

LaRoche oversaw the ribbons being hung as his anger slightly dissipated, "Much better! Now go see what taking Plonk and her choir so long to get here!" The owls did as such, as LaRoche began looking around, "Where's the hagsmire is Pip?! I sent him out a couple minutes ago to fetch some orchids! Honestly, I can't trust that little twit to save my life…"

"Um…LaRoche?" Boron merely addressed, unsure of how wise it was to ask him in this state.

The Elf Owl quickly turned towards the direction of the voice, and as soon as he did, his angered expression quickly changed to that of a jovial one, as if he was peeling off a mask, "Ah! Your majesty! So glad you could make it!"

"So am I, LaRoche…so how's the preparations are coming?" Boron asked.

"Swimmingly, swimmingly." The Elf Owl answered repeatedly, trying to hide the stress in his voice, "Everything is about pitch perfect! All we need now are the guests, the music, the orchids, the best owl, the bridesmaid, and of course, the-hey, who is he?" LaRoche quickly changed the topic as he took note of Shard, giving him a suspicious stare.

"Oh, pardon me," Boron exclaimed as he introduced, "This is Shard Grayeth (**Gray-eth**), captain of the Cape Glaux squadron, senior Guardian."

"I see." LaRoche said, his stare still standing, as he held out his talon, "LaRoche Dursley, once-advisor to king of Kuneer, now serving as representative here as a Guardian."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Dursley." Shard politely addressed as he shook his talon.

"I know…it is always a pleasure." LaRoche smugly remarked as he released his talon, "So what brings such a highly-acclaimed soldier here on this fine night?" He asked.

"Just visiting." Shard shrugged, "I hadn't been here in about two years, and when I heard that we had ex-Pure Ones here, I had to check it out."

"Really? You came…to see the Pure Ones?" LaRoche asked incredulously, a bit of venom in his voice.

"Yes." Shard answered, unaware of LaRoche's sarcasm, "I was hoping to attend the wedding, in fact."

The Elf Owl merely gave a scoff, "Listen to me, kid, you would be better off wasting your time elsewhere."

"LaRoche!" Boron snapped.

"What?" Shard asked, shocked by his hostility, as he asked LaRoche, "What did I say?"

"Please excuse LaRoche, Shard. He has a very distinct hate of the Pure Ones, and ever since we accepted the two six months ago, he still hadn't got over it." Boron apologized, casting the occasional glare at LaRoche.

"I'm sorry, your majesty, but I am not the one who made the stupid mistake of taking those two criminals into the tree! Honestly, I just know that those two will pull something bad when we least expect it!" LaRoche snapped, trying to defend himself.

"Wait, wait, wait, I'm not getting this…" Shard exclaimed, "You hate Pure Ones with a passion…yet you are organizing their wedding?"

"Well…I wanted to refuse, really wanted to…" LaRoche answered awkwardly, "But I didn't want someone saying I did nothing for them. And besides, it's not like this is my best work and all…" LaRoche finished with a smug sense of superiority.

"Oh, I'm sure Kludd and Nyra will be disappointed to hear that." Boron sarcastically muttered, noting how beautiful the place looked.

"I heard that!" LaRoche growled, "I don't even know why I bother with this wedding. It's pretty obvious that once Kludd bites the dust, Nyra will find another male to croon over."

"Now wait just a moment!" Shard defended, "How do you even know that?! I may had a few bad experiences with Pure Ones, but I wouldn't go as far to say that they don't know love!"

"Please, Shard. It's Glaux's design. Those Pure Ones are incapable of feeling love and all that sprink. Them and their stupid ideals of purity, when they probably don't know what 'purity' means!" LaRoche snapped angrily, before composing himself and smugly quipped, "Although I wouldn't expect you to understand."

"What's that suppose to mean?!" Shard growled, realizing that he did not like this owl.

"Simple. I spent my first couple of months here since...well, you know...browsing the archives. Only took me two and a half weeks to memorize every single Guardians, rybs, and students that had been brought up in this old sapling, and when I heard your name...I knew I remembered it somewhere…your ryb...it was none other than that filthy slipglizzle, Allomere!" LaRoche finished with a accusatory glare.

In a chain reaction, Shard's body immediately tensed at the name, as he looked away, scowling, "So what? He taught lots of students"

"LaRoche, I think you shouldn't..." Boron tried to change the subject, but LaRoche interrupted him.

"Hey, hey, hey, I am not trying to be uncouth or anything," LaRoche defended, although his voice seems to say otherwise, "I would be ashamed too if the owl that had saved me as a owlet..."

"LaRoche..." Boron warned, his voice growing stern.

"Taught me everything about being a Guardian…" LaRoche continued.

"Shut up..." Shard growled, obviously growing upset by his words, as he started to shudder with rage.

"And in the end, BAM! He betrayed you all for this dingy little-" The Elf Owl was about to finish before...

"That's quite enough, Mr. LaRoche!"

The three owls jumped at the shout and turned to see a Whiskered Screech Owl, a female one at that, her feathers preened to a great degree and a lovely white flower tucked over her right ear tuft, and a stern glare obviously staring at the Elf Owl.

"Oh, Alice, so nice of you to join us!" Boron chimed, ignoring the tension, "_And not a moment too soon, thank Glaux!_" He thought to himself.

"Thank you, your grace. I had no intention of missing this wedding...although I had intentions of not having to deal with this little git again." Alice growled at the Elf Owl.

"Great to see you too, Alice." LaRoche sarcastically sneered, "But I was merely stating facts is all…"

"For crying out loud, LaRoche. Hadn't you done this already six months ago with the last lad?" Alice snapped, "You never seem to learn, do you?"

"What can I say?" LaRoche smugly remarked, "This tree had a tendency to draw owls with bad connections."

Shard was about to screech in his face to shut up, had not Alice close in his face, instantly surprising the Elf Owl.

"You see here, LaRoche. I patched you up, and I can easily tear you apart. You thought what that Pure One did to you was bad? Well, what he did will be a tickle compared what I will do to you if I hear one derogatory comment about anyone tonight...do I make myself clear?" Alice threatened, her voice dripping with more venom than a cobra.

Shard and Boron were caught off guard by her threats, as LaRoche, having experienced this kind of anger before, merely gulped, "Okay, okay…but by derogatory comment-"

"LaRoche..."

"OKAY!" LaRoche backed away, as he tried to avoid her murderous gaze, "I think I…I…recheck the floral patterns…you know them owls…" He slowly backs away, chuckling, "Never getting them right…" He finished with one last chuckle before flapping away to the altar to do as such.

As soon as the mean Elf Owl left, Alice turned to the two male owls, and immediately, like peeling off a mask like LaRoche, her angry gaze shifted to a soothing, happy one as she apologized, "Sorry about that. I guess I went a little overboard..."

"That's quite fine, Alice, I'm sure our guest doesn't mind, does he?" Boron shrugged as he turned to Shard.

"Oh no, not at all…" Shard admitted, actually relieved that the owl was gone.

Alice took note of this however as she explained, "Now don't you pay LaRoche any mind. He is never one to consider one's feelings before saying what is on his mind."

"I won't, trust me..." Shard nodded, as he glared at where the Elf Owl went, "What is that owl's deal?"

"I honestly don't know." Alice answered, shaking her head with a smile, "Everyone seems to have a different theory. I personally think he has something shoved far up his-"

"Ahem." Boron cleared his throat, stopping her from finishing that sentence.

"Right." Alice said, getting his point, "Who may you be? I never saw you around the tree before."

"Shard Grayeth, ma'am." The horned owl answered, shaking her talon, "Captain of the Cape Glaux squadron."

"Oh please, dear, I'm not one for formalities. I'm Alice Monroe. A nurse here at Ga'Hoole."

"Alice Monroe? As in the famous 'Guardian Angel' Alice Monroe, the greatest nurse of the century?" Shard repeated in awe.

"There is no other." Boron said matter-of-factly.

"Stop, you are embarrassing me." Alice smiled, blushing a bit, "I would like nothing more to be treated as a humble nurse. That's all I am really."

"I wouldn't say that!" Shard exclaimed, still shocked, "What brings someone like you to this tree?"

"Oh, nothing much, lad. Just wanting to see new faces, help other owls, and possibly find a owl to share a nest with." Alice nonchalantly replied.

"Really now? You certainly look like someone ready to spend the night with a special someone." The Northern Horned Owl stated, noting her looks.

"What, this? Oh, no, this is strictly for the wedding. My dear Ezylryb isn't one to care about looks." Alice stated with a chur.

"Wait, Ezylryb?!" Shard jumped, recognizing the name, "You mean...you are in a relationship with _the_ L-"

The Horned Owl was interrupted by the doors to the wedding hall opening, prompting the three owls and LaRoche, who looked away from the floral arrangements, to turn to the doors, to see a small Little Owl hopping through the door, making a small sound with each hop.

"Well, what do you know, it's..." Boron began before being interrupted by LaRoche.

"PIP! Where have you been?!" The Elf Owl snarled, "I sent you to get orchids over an hour ago!"

Alice and Boron were about to scold LaRoche for his harshness, but Pip, somehow undaunted by his angry screech, started chirping in pips, for Pip was a special owl, as he suffered from an acute case of shyness. Because of this, Pip rarely spoke English, and when he did, it would be so quiet that not even bats and barn owls, known for their great hearing, could hear him. That's why he makes the pip sound, it being the only word he can say out loud, thus earning him the nickname Pip, for no one really knew his real name. However, his pips, over time, somehow became very easy to translate, allowing anyone to understand what the owl was saying when he pips.

Pip continued his explanation through pips, changing his tone constantly as if he was having a normal conversation. Everyone with the exception of Shard, who was confused, knew what he was saying, as LaRoche's angry glare daunted in a rather-surprised one.

"Oh. So the reason you hadn't found any orchids is...there is no orchids in the surrounding area of Hoole?" LaRoche slowly repeated, somewhat embarrased for some reason.

Pip nodded, and continue his speech.

"I see..." LaRoche nodded, "Well, I guess this wedding could do without orchids..."

The Little Owl pipped in agreement and pipped some more, prompting a surprise screech from LaRoche.

"WHAT?! The guests and the wedding party is on their way here?! Oh, dear..." LaRoche stressed out as he then screeched to the organizers in the room, "Okay, everyone, places! We may not like this guys but it is important that we make sure this wedding go without a hitch!"

Immediately the owls began to move around, as LaRoche turned to Pip, "Pip, be sure to lead our guest to their seats." The Little Owl did a salute as he went off, pipping all the away, to the door. The Elf Owl turns to Boron, "Your majesty..."

"I know. Honestly, LaRoche, this is not the first wedding I officiated." The Snowy Owl quipped, rolling his eyes, as he went off to the altar.

Finally, LaRoche faced Shard and Alice, "As for you two, I would recommend that you find your seats. Although it wouldn't be as hard...given there will only be like ten or twenty owls here."

Shard and Alice give a glare at the Elf Owl and his sheer rudeness, but either of them in any mood to make a argument about it, the two went off to find their seats...

As the two did as such, LaRoche let out a deep sigh as he placed his wings on the bridge of his beak, "Aye...I'll be damned if something were to go wrong today...eh, what am I worried about? What could possibly happen?"

* * *

Meanwhile, a couple of meters away from the tree of Ga'Hoole...through the mist that usually surrounded the tree, glints of silver began to pierce through, as shadowy figures were making their way through the fog. These shadowy figures in question were none other than Tytos, armed with sharp battle claws, and each and one of them donning an ominous cowl helmet of steel. Suddenly, joining under these owls, more figures began to come through the mist, as a colorful array of hawks, from the usual red-tailed hawks to sharp-shinned hawks to gray hawks, each of them armed with battle claws as well. Above all of them, leading the charge, two lone figures, followed by two less-graceful flying Long-Eared Owls and a stoic Golden Eagle, appeared...

One of them, a Grass Owl, donning a very unique helm, with only one working eye, looked at the sight of the tree and declared down and behind to his men, "Ah, there it is, men. The home of those wretched bastards and their glaux-damn notions. This is our night, Pure Ones! The night we show them the true brunt of our Tytonic might! We may not win this fight tonight, but it will bring us one step closer to complete domination! WHO'S WITH ME?!"

The Pure Ones below responded with cheers and chants at their leader's speech...but then the leader owl took note that the hawks below did not answered, as the grass owl repeated in a strict and angry tone, "I said...WHO'S WITH ME?!"

The hawks, immediately intimidated by the grass owl, instantly went into a uproar that matched that of the Pure Ones. The leader looked upon his army with glee and malice as the other lone figure following him, a red-tailed hawk, let out a sigh and sagely muttered to himself.

"This is going to blow up in our fucking beaks...I just know it."

* * *

**A/N: Okay, everyone, there you have it, chapter numero tres! Here, we reunited with all of our heroes, as well as meet a new one...well, not technically a new one if you had played the Legend of the Guardians game. The wedding prep scene with Kludd and the others was inspired by a couple of Spyro The Dragon fics, namely ones from MyWayWriter and BLU0NI. Well, I hope you guys didn't mind the three weeks wait (for I was busy and distracted most of those time). Also, I given last names to Alice and LaRoche, just for kicks. FUN FACT: There is an actual hawk species named Harris's Hawk...trust me, I did not know this when I made Harris, but that's the mighty power of coincidence for ya! Anyway, I hope the next chapter won't take as long, and we will get to the good parts soon enough! READ AND REVIEW!**

**Note: Okay, guys, I just want to throw it out there, but I do have a forum called The Pure Redemption Saga Discussion, so if you guys have any questions, predictions, comments (beyond your reviews of course), or anything at all, please, post something in my forum! I look forward to discussing with ya!**

**Voice Cast for OCs**

**Shard Grayeth – David Boreanaz (****_Seeley Booth_**** from ****_Bones_****) (Note: I do not know who's Shard's actor in the game, so this will have to do)**

**LaRoche Dursley – Rob Riggle (****_Aloysius O'Hare _****from ****_The Lorax (2012)_****)**

**Alice Monroe – Glenn Close (****_Cruella De Vil_**** from ****_101 Dalmanitans (Live-action)_****)**

**Pip – Matt Stone (****_Pip_**** from ****_South Park_****)**

**Nix – Jensen Ackles (****_Dean Winchester _****from****_ Supernatural_****)**

**Harris Hawk – Simon Baker (****_Patrick Jane _****from ****_The Mentalist_****)**

_**Artworks stuff is appreciated, deeply appreciated.**_


	4. Purely Orchestrated

**A/N: It is time...my good friends...to witness the ultimate joining of our two favorite Pure Ones...but will it really go without a hitch?**

**REVIEW RESPONSES**

**Crazybird101: **Yes, LaRoche is still an asshole. And the reason I made Shard a Horned Owl was the fact that there was already six Barn Owls in this story, plus three more to come in this one…and there was only one Horned Owl.

**1-1 Marines: **Yes, Shard is a captain, but what he went through…is slightly different from the video game. Sorry, but as far as I know, LaRoche will live…but you will be satisfied with this chapter.

**sonicfighter21354: **So glad that you are…but things are going to get crazy. Yes, I figured Shard should be in a respected position.

**FtDLulz: **Your very welcome.

**Godzilla Fan 2012: **I am glad that someone had taken notice of the ITDs. Yes, it is pretty safe to assume that these ITDs will have connections to this story. And thank you for your words of encouragement.

**sailor-starlight101: **Thank you, and I'm glad you thought so. I think you can be good as well, given the chance.

**Synchronized Harmony: **Thanks, Sync!

**Elete12: **:I Well, I know you mean well, but I am not one of those guys who are good at finding 'small' errors. I appreciate your honesty, but I would appreciate it more that you add on a compliment with that criticism next time.

**LydeaBlaze: **Interesting was what I was going for. :)

**jjhatter: **Yes, Harris's confidence is soaring…and I am glad that you like the scenes.

**X1Mobius: **Oh, you…*blushes* And you are quite correct, my fellow reader and writer, things are about to get crazy…

**I do not own Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole and their beloved characters**

**I do own Harris, Fatal, LaRoche, Pip, and Alice, as well as my interpretation of Shard.**

**NOTE: I had been thinking, and I had decided that for the story to make better sense, I made both Ezylryb and Metalbeak 10 years older than they were, meaning Ezylryb is 58, while Surtr is 57 (when he died). If the last fic says otherwise, ignore it.**

* * *

Chapter Four: Purely Orchestrated

INSIGHT INTO THE THEOLOGY OF DARKNESS

DATE: Golden Rain, Month 3, Day 3, Year 705

SUBJECT: The Guardians

The Guardians

Defenders of the Island of Hoole and the Great Tree of Ga'Hoole.

Found in the times of the Golden Rain of Year 89.

Founders: Hoole Nazareth, Theo Lokey, and Grank Albus.

Known Allies: Northern Kingdom of Deningrad, Desert Kingdom of Kuneer, Forest Kingdom of Tyto, Forest Kingdom of Silverveil

Known Adversaries: Tytonic Union of Pure Ones, Forest Kingdom of Ambala*

*_I honestly have no sprinking clue what's their deal...something about some tension between the kingdom's two leading siblings..._

Current Leaders: Boron Nyctea, Barran Nyctea, Ezekiel Lyze...a.k.a. Ezylryb

Motto: "_To uphold the weak, to mend the broken, and make weak the proud_"

Number of Members up to date: Approximation of 500 owls ranging across the whole owl portion of the animal kingdom.

The Guardians was found in year 89 by the first King of Hoole in response to the rising threat of the many rogue bands that were forming since the ultimate defeat and extermination of the hagsfiend in year 70, as well as a part of an arms race, as Eve Alba found the Tytonic Union of The Pure Ones a couple years before, who risen up to combat the chaos and disruption that ensued in the aftermath of the First War as well. It was once presumed by many that the Guardians would not last long, as opposed to the Pure Ones, for they lacked discipline, order, and were in major short supply of battle claws...yet, here I am, six hundred sixteen years later, now taking up residence in the Great Tree of Ga'Hoole, to resume my studies of darkness's theology. It still impress me that they had manage to last this long...well, I would contribute that either to the fine leaderships of great owls like Hoole and Boron or simply dumb luck.

In all seriousness however, the Guardians are now one of the owl kingdoms' greatest forces in the world, ranking third behind Deningrad's elite Snowfall Squadron and the Pure Ones. Despite all of the abovementioned necessities they lacked, they had made up for in skill, intelligence, and their unbreakable determination and will. What they do is quite noble: fighting for the weak and broken, willing to throw their lives on the line against countless threats that our world face today.

As to what any of this information has to do with the study into darkness, I had started performing some observations upon these unique owls and I had been quite surprised. Practically every single owl that I had interviewed had shown to be a model citizen, always thinking of others and helping anyone in need. These owls…they were practically perfect…and their hearts were good…but there is something wrong with them…

When I asked these owls questions regarding darkness and what they would do in a hypothetical situation where they would had to do something very immoral, they simply went mute or deny answering. As I mentioned within my entry 'Fear', I had wondered why we denied darkness, and as I asked these owls, I could sense in my gizzard that they were afraid of it…and even though they may deny it, they _are_ afraid. These Guardians may be brave and bold on the outside…but on the inside…they're nothing more than contradictions.

For those of a weaker mind, a contradiction is a thing that is inconsistent with an element. Some of the Guardians are shown to fear darkness, some of them even hating it, but they fail to realize that we _are _owls, the birds of the night, night which is the world's period of perpetual darkness. How can these owls loathe darkness when we fly within it every night?

I hope to find my answer to this question as I begin my stay here in the Great Ga'Hoole Tree…

Entry End

V.

* * *

Over the next few moments, the wedding hall was beginning to be filled with guests, as owls began to file into the room. Upon LaRoche's suggestion, Shard and Alice took their places, as Alice stand in the left side of the hall in the front, while Shard waited in the back of the room, not wanting to stir up questions about himself till the wedding was over.

The first of the guests to arrive were the members of the Parliament, as presence of all the members were required for the wedding to be official. Bubo was the first to fly in of the group, his commonly sooty feathers cleaned and preened, as he held the door open for Dewlap, who herself was preened as well, but her face was stuck in a scowl.

"Come on, Dewlap, you know if you keep your beak like that, it will stick, right?" Bubo joked.

"Oh, ha-ha. You are really enjoying your little victory, aren't ya?" Dewlap growled. Back when they were deciding whether Kludd and Nyra would stay, Dewlap, like LaRoche, was against the Pure Ones staying here, and ever since Boron ruled that they would stay, the elderly Burrowing Owl still hadn't gotten over it, and even held hate against the ones that ruled in their favor, namely Ezylryb, Strix Struma, and Bubo.

"Not at all. I am enjoying that I get to see a wedding." Bubo corrected, undaunted by Dewlap's hostility. The horned owl was one of those guys that never let most bad things that others had done get to him, and was always outgoing. It was safe to say that he took quite a shine to the two once-evil owls, mostly Kludd, as he was one of his students in the blacksmithing chaw, for he reminded him so much of himself when he was younger (being a Pure One aside, of course). Dewlap merely grunted as she took her place at the front of the aisle.

Bubo let out a sigh when he heard a group of flapping, and turn to see a group of young owls with instruments in their talons, and at the front of them, a beautiful snowy owl, her feathers obviously more cleaned and preened then any of the other owls he had seen thus far. The great horned owl's beak merely hanged at the sight of this beauty, but immediately snapped himself out of it as he then addressed firmly,

"Ah, good evening, Madame Plonk, fine night for a wedding, is it?"

"Indeed it is, Bubo." The snowy owl nodded with a warm smile, "It seemed like ages since I last performed at a wedding."

"Yes, and a unique one at that." Bubo added, before noticing something, "Where's your harp?"

"Oh, the snakes are bringing it up. You didn't think I would not bring my best to this wedding, did you?" Madame Plonk asked suspiciously.

"Well…you weren't exactly the most receptive." Bubo stated truthfully. Indeed, Madame Plonk was also against Kludd and Nyra's staying here, although she was not as out-spoken in comparison to LaRoche or Dewlap.

The snowy owl sighed, "I guess that is fair. But that was then and this is now, and I honestly don't mind those two now." That was also true, for in the following months, Madame Plonk had grown used to the two. Sure, she was apprehensive of them sometimes, but she certainly admired how dedicated they were to fixing their wrongs, and she cannot hate them for that.

"No doubt in my mind that you do." Bubo chuckled, as with a nod from the snowy owl, she, followed by her choir who served as a chorus for her melodious voice, took their place at the choir stand. After seeing no one else was coming yet, Bubo decided to take his place alongside Dewlap, who was still in a sour mood.

The doors to the hall opened once more as a snowy owl came flying in, and given how there were only three notable snowy owls in the tree, it wasn't hard to deduce that this owl was Barran, mate of Boron, and queen of the Ga'Hoole Tree. Keeping an emotionless yet firm glance, she flew to the front of the aisle and stand alongside the two other members of the Parliament, giving a firm nod to her mate who was at the altar, who returned the nod. Although the queen didn't say it, she too was not so keen about the wedding like LaRoche, although it wasn't Kludd she didn't like (she had no qualms with him, and thought he was a good owl at heart), but Nyra, for they had a bit of a fierce rivalry back then, especially back in the Battle of The Ice Claws. But despite her hate towards the Barn Owl, she was rather too composed to act on such negative emotions, but she often gave occasional glares at the Tyto, and avoided her half the time.

After the arrival of the last Parliament member that wasn't directly involved in the wedding, other owls began to file into the halls, as well as the snakes that were bringing Madame Plonk's harp. The owls that came were of all sizes, as there were Elves, Pygmies, Burrowers, as well as Great Grays, and Great Horneds and even a couple of owlets and their parents, some of them Guardians, some of them merely citizens. Of course, as Boron and LaRoche predicted, there were not a lot of them, which was understandable, given that this was a wedding between two Pure Ones, but the count was still adequate for a small wedding.

LaRoche looked over the hall, as he was doing a mental head count of everyone in the room, and gave a nod, "Okay, we have the guests…now all we need now is the main attraction…" The moment he said that could have not been at a better timing, as the doors parted once more, as a group of male owls made their way into the hall, a burrowing owl, a great gray owl, and three barn owls, one of them donning a green cloak and with a notable scar on his face.

Kludd and the others merely looked impressed as they walked into the hall, quite surprised by what a good job was done on the place. The décor, the floral arrangement, it was practically a masterpiece.

"Wow…" Soren gasped to himself.

"I'll say," Digger agreed, "And to think this was made possible by the guy who hates Kludd and Nyra's gizzards."

"I believe Ezylryb would call it a great irony." Twilight stated.

"There are indeed no arguments there." Noctus nodded.

The scarred Tyto took no note of others' comment as he made his way down the aisle, glancing left and right at the guests that were in attendance of his wedding, as everyone's eyes were adverted towards him. Although none of these gazes were ill intended, as they were all jovial and rather happy, Kludd still felt awkward, as if he didn't deserved these kinds of gazes. He was once their number one enemy, for crying out loud, how was it that they were so quick to forgive him in six months? He wasn't even sure if he forgiven himself just yet…but regardless, he continued onwards, but not before being caught in the eyes of the Northern Horned Owl in the back corner of the hall…

"_So that's the ex-king of the Pure Ones…he doesn't look evil._" Shard thought to himself.

It was not before long that the groom's party was at the front of the hall, as Kludd and Soren approached the altar, while Digger and Noctus took their place at the left side of the hall, and Twilight went to join Madame Plonk and her choir at the stands with his lute in his talon.

As soon as Kludd and Soren were in their place for the wedding, Boron took note of their presence, smiling, "Well, isn't it the owl of the hour? How are you feeling?"

"Er, just fine, your majesty. I am quite surprised actually that all these owls came." Kludd admitted a bit nervously.

"Don't be, Kludd. These owls are all here because they know that you had changed. The audience is proof that you had been doing well in your path towards redemption. This is indeed a time for celebration…especially for both you and Nyra." Boron sagely remarked.

"I know, sir. Thank you." Kludd nodded…before suddenly being nudged in the back. The groom quickly turned his head around to find none other than LaRoche holding two pieces of cloth.

"Hey, kid, I had been thinking. Should we go with maroon or red for the reception tweener? Because I am having trouble deciding-"

"LaRoche." Soren said, from behind him, "Don't you think it's a little late for that?"

"What makes you say th-" LaRoche asked, before realizing that everyone were watching there, "Oh…right. They're here. Well, better take my position!" Without another word, he quickly took his position amongst the parliament members, between Dewlap and Barran.

"Okay, now that is taken care of, all we need now is the bride…" Boron stated truthfully.

Thanks to the power of coincidence, as soon as the snowy owl said that, the doors begin to open once more…revealing none other than Nyra Camille, her posture composed, and her head held high, and her feathers and figure cleaned and preened with the utmost care, donning a beautiful red cloak, and next to her, with a wing intertwined with her left, Ezylryb was keeping up a smug yet modest smirk.

"Wow…" Kludd instantly gaped, really dumbfounded that his love could be any more beautiful than she already was before.

"You took the words out of my beak." Soren agreed.

As soon as Boron saw the bride, he immediately gave a nod to Madame Plonk and Twilight. Seeing their cue, Madame Plonk began with a warming up hum and Twilight with a strum of his lute, and soon, the instrumental of 'Here Comes The Bride' began to echo throughout the room.

With the song playing, Ezylryb escorted Nyra down the aisle, soon followed by three of her bridesmaids Gylfie, Otulissa, and Strix Struma, as well as Marella, Eglantine, and Mrs. P, who quickly sneaked around the left side of the hall to join the rest of the family. Ezylryb kept a smile as he waved to the crowd, while the white barn owl kept her eyes straight forward, not taking note of the eyes that were all laid on her, especially Shard, who was still watching from the back.

"_Whoa. I never thought I would see a Pure One that was…well, beautiful._" He nodded in his thought.

From the front of the room, the other Parliament members looked at the two making their way down the aisle.

"Wow…Nyra certainly does look purty tonight." Bubo complimented.

"Oh, please, Bubo, now you're ogling the Pure One?" Dewlap snapped silently.

"Hush, Dewlap. You are just jealous that you weren't as young and pretty as her." Bubo muttered.

"I am not…" Dewlap growled, but her mind said otherwise, "_Sprink it all to hagsmire, why couldn't I be as beautiful as that wench?_"

"Pfft, I've seen better." LaRoche mumbled to himself.

"Oh be quiet, LaRoche." Barran bitterly remarked. Although her glare said otherwise, she couldn't deny that Nyra did look quite nice…for being a Pure One, that is.

"Sorry…geez," The Elf Owl gasped to himself, "At least nothing has gone wrong so far…"

* * *

Meanwhile, just arriving at the landing area of the tree, Nix, followed by Harris, quietly placed their talons on the ground, soon to be followed by a couple clatters of battle claws as a battalion of Tyto owls and hawks landed behind them…and a big crash-landing by Jatt and Jutt, and somewhat loud, cracking landing by Fatal, due to his weight.

"Okay, Nix. We are here. What do we do now?" Harris asked.

"It is simple. Me, along with Uglamore, Jatt, and Jutt, plus a few more, will circle around back. You, Fatal, and the rest will storm the front." Nix explained, as he was doing a quick check of the wind.

"A part of _his_ plan, I reckon?" Harris questioned, greatly doubting the success of the mysterious owl's plan.

"A rather large part." Nix sniggered, as he gave a reassuring pat on Fatal.

'I AM-" Fatal was about to shout before having his beak covered by a few Pure Ones.

Nix spread his wings, "Okay, Harris. You know your play. Wait for the signal and remember one thing…"

"What?" The red-tailed hawk asked.

"Kludd belongs to me…" Nix darkly smarmed as he took to the sky, "UGLAMORE! JATT! JUTT! SOLDIERS! AT MY SIDE!"

The two long-eared owls, barely recovered from their crash-landing, let out a groan as they did so, while another barn owl, his scratched up helm glittering in the moonlight, let out a sigh as he ordered, in his deep Russian-like accent, "You heard our master. To the sky!" With that, the grass owl and his battalion flew off into the night, leaving Harris and the others to their device.

"God…this better work…" Harris muttered, "Come on, men, into the tree…" With that, he and his group made their way into the depths of the great tree…

* * *

It was only a few minutes later that Nyra and Ezylryb eventually made it to the front of the room. With a silent thank you and a nod from Nyra, Ezylryb parted from her and went to his spot that was between the groom's beaming father and the nurse, who had been watching the two and obviously was amused by how well groomed he was. The bride approached the altar to her place next to Kludd, while her three bridesmaids stood behind her. The three females took note of their respective lovers, as Gylfie, Otulissa, and Strix gave a loving smile to their beau, prompting a blush from Soren and Digger, and in Twilight's case, nearly faltering his music playing.

As soon as Kludd and Nyra were close and facing each other, the two were even more stupefied by their wondrous appearance. Nyra could not help but note that her to-be mate looked ruggedly handsome than usual, even with the scar that laced the left side, which had faded over the few months due to some treatment that was implemented by Alice during his coma. The green cloak he was wearing also complimented his handsomeness, contrasting with his brilliant brown feathers, and his eyes were shining as bright as a nice pair of battle claws. Kludd himself was practically blown away by how beautiful she was, especially with the moonlight that was glowing through the stained glass window, reflecting off her brilliant white feathers, giving her a heavenly glow, and the cape she had on her back really brought out her eyes, which seemed like a perfect blend of a sea blue and forest green.

The two owls stood in silence at first; still processing the excellent view they were receiving, when Kludd whispered,

"Wow, Nyra…you look beautiful…"

Nyra blushed, hearing someone call her beautiful was common, more so back in her time as a Pure One before Metalbeak, but to hear it from a handsome male, like Kludd for instance, always brought red to her cheeks.

"Thank you, love…and I must simply say…you look rather dashing." Nyra purred in response, the male immediately feeling a bit flustered as he tried to hide his blush.

"Excuse me." Kludd and Nyra looked to face Boron, who was watching the scene with a bit of amusement and slight impatience, "Could you possibly save your loving words till after the ceremony?"

The two Tytos immediately flushed in embarrassment as they both hastily nodded, prompting a slight stir of chuckle from the crowd.

"Good…now to begin…" Boron stated, as the music suddenly stopped, and then began, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the presence of Glaux to witness the joining of this man" He gestured to Kludd, "and this woman" He gestured to Nyra, "In holy matrimony…"

As Boron began the ceremony, everyone was focused on the two owls, listening attentively to Boron's sermon…

"Glaux, I never thought that this day would come…" Marella whispered, a bit of tears swelling in her eyes, feeling pride in her eldest son.

"I know, dear…I am quite surprised myself." Noctus admitted, "But…it did come…"

"Yes. It sure is something to see one of your owlets grows up and find a mate…" Mrs. P smiled, keeping her tears in check.

"No argument there, ma'am." Ezylryb nodded, keeping his left wing around Alice, keeping their eyes on Boron as he continued the sermon.

"They look so happy together..." Alice smiled.

Kludd and Nyra were listening as well, but they were lost in each others' eyes, seeing the great love and joy they had for each other, knowing that they were moments away from being together forever…

"Ew, they are giving each others those eyes…" LaRoche grimaced.

"Oh, give it a blow, Roachy, you say that because no one ever looked that way at you." Bubo quipped. This prompted a bit of a growl from the Elf Owl's beak as he glared at the couple.

Soren looked at his brother, noting the happy expression on his beak; never in all the years he had spent with Kludd had he ever seen him smiling this well, even before he began slipping away from him, and honestly, he was happy that his brother was happy and given how close they were to the end, it seems like nothing could ruin this perfect night…

* * *

Meanwhile, around the back of the tree, Nix and his men were approaching one of the lower roots, when the leader took note of a stained glass window.

"There it is. The wedding hall should be there…" Nix whispered to his men, as he then barked to a random one, "Soldier! Sound the signal!"

The helmed soldier did as such, as he quickly approached the tree and landed near what seemed to be a natural air duct of the tree. Making sure that their signal wasn't heard; the owl gave a somewhat loud screech into the duct…

At the other end of the duct, which happened to be not far from the wedding hall's doors, Harris, who was waiting near it, as according to plan, heard the screech and gave a satisfied smirk.

"Okay, that's our cue! Unleash our secret weapon!" Harris ordered.

Unfortunately, this secret weapon…was none other than Fatal, who was just standing there still as a statue, not willing to move at all. Behind him, another helmed Pure One, slightly smaller than Uglamore, who went by the name Wortmore, tried to budge him, but his efforts would be compared to trying to move a brick wall.

"Come on, you sprinking moron, move!" Wortmore barked in a slightly Australian-like accent as he tried pushing the eagle again, his talons scratching against the floor, but the golden eagle merely let out a yawn.

"What's the hold up?" Harris growled, frustrated that their plan was starting to unwind.

"Don't blame me! This eagle of yours is defective!" Wortmore shouted back, rather hostile towards their hawk captain.

"Oh come on, Wortmore, you aren't simply trying hard enough." Wortmore turned to see another barn owl, slightly older than him, not wearing a helm, but had a vicious scar on his right cheek and a badly scarred chest. The barn owl immediately recognized him as Stryker.

"If you are so confident, why don't you try it?" Wortmore spat, not willing to take crap from anyone.

"Gladly. Step aside." Stryker ordered, his Italian voice profound, as he shoved Wortmore aside, and then raised his right battle claw, "Let me be the point owl." He shoved his right claw forward and immediately, Fatal's pupils dilated…

* * *

Soon, the wedding hall started to shake, confusing everyone, especially Kludd and Nyra, not to mention LaRoche.

"That's funny, the earth usually doesn't start moving till after the honeymoon." He quipped.

"What's in Glaux name is going on here?" Shard whispered, quite shocked by the tremors.

Fortunately, the Horned Owl's question was about to be answered, as suddenly, the doors to the wedding hall were blasted open by a hulking figure that charged his way into the room, parting the crowds and shaking the ground with each step, before stopping in the middle of the room and letting out a loud screech to the air:

"I AM STRONG, I AM HANDSOME, I AM FATAL!"

Everyone looked in horror at the eagle, which stood there stoically looking at everyone, but no one was more horrified than Kludd and Soren and the rest of the band, as they instantly recognized the eagle…

"No sprinking way…" Kludd whispered to himself.

"Is that who I think it is?" Soren asked.

"Soren, Kludd, you know this bird?" Boron questioned, himself quite shocked.

"Know him?" Gylfie answered for them, "This eagle kidnapped us!"

"Not to mention nearly killing us!" Digger replied as he joined the altar.

"And annoying us with that repetitive screech!" Twilight shuddered, meeting up with the group.

"Exactly, Twilight." Ezylryb agreed as he joined the group, "And if this eagle is here…then that means…"

"Hello…_Lyze_…"

Everyone at the altar and in the room turned to the origin of the voice as the brown feathered figure of Harris waltz into the room, as if he owned the place, relishing in the fearful and hateful eyes of the masses, only to stop at Fatal's side.

"Harris…" The entire band and Ezylryb bitterly remarked as they all donned hateful glares and battle stances.

"Harris?" Boron asked, as he remembered having the Guardians dealt with him and his group of hawks before.

"How kind of you all to remember me." Harris chuckled, "I bet you all thought we were dead when we fell out of the ravine, did ya?"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Ezylryb screeched, rather angry that he would defile their sanctuary.

"Oh, you know…robbing, pillaging, raping, the typical kind of stuff we hawks usually do." Harris nonchalantly answered, "But when I heard that the famous 'Diamond of St. Aegolius' was getting married, I had to drop by."

"What do you want?!" Nyra barked, "Why possible reasons could you have to come here of all nights?! Especially on our wedding night?!"

"Let me break it down for you, my dear." Harris sniggered as he darkly replied, "I want revenge for the humiliation your filthy mongrels you put us through six months ago, as well as 'Metalbeak' kicking us out two years before, and I want you owls worshipping the grounds we stand on, and to rule over the kingdoms…and most of all, I want you for my prize…" He explained, as he pointed his starboard wing at Nyra, who returned with a disgusted glare.

"Forget it, Harris!" Gylfie snapped, remembering how close Harris was to nearly violating them, "There is no way you are getting any of those!"

"YEAH! HAGSMIRE WILL FREEZE OVER BEFORE WE LET YOU DO A THING TO ANY OF OUR WOMEN!" Digger screamed, his hate towards the hawk more profound than the others.

"Women?" Harris asked, before he took note of the two short-eared owls, glaring at him, at the altar, "Ah, who are those fine lovely ladies?"

"No one you should be concerned with!" Soren snapped, taking a step forward.

"Especially if you value your hide!" Twilight threatened.

"Eh, scary…" Harris sarcastically sneered as he took a step forward, "I am afraid that your threats will not deter me and Fatal from getting what we want."

"Are you seriously daft, Harris?" Ezylryb snapped, "From my count, there are about two dozens of Guardians, including our two-in-training, and only you and Fatal. I honestly don't care what it is you're after, but you are simply not going to get it!"

"Oh, are you so sure?" The red-tailed hawk asked, his green eyes gleaming.

"YES!" Kludd answered, as he took a step towards Harris, "This is _our_ home! So do yourself a favor and leave this tree right now before we make you!"

"YEAH!" The band and the others agreed, as well as some of the Guardians in the crowd, the Parliament included, while the citizens glared at the two lone figures.

But Harris was undaunted by all the threats as he then turned to Kludd and said in a cocky tone, "If I were you, Mr. Alba, I would be more concerned with my head."

Kludd looked at the hawk with confusion when suddenly, something burst through the central stained glass windows and before anyone could react, Kludd's face was met with a gnarly talon punch to the face, sending him sprawling to the ground.

"KLUDD!" Soren and Nyra, the band and the family screeched, as the bride went to her fiancé's side.

The barn owl grunted in pain as he gripped the hurt side of his face, as his love lifted his head slowly. The barn owl winced his eyes shut as he turned to face what attacked him…only to have his eyes widen in shock, as standing at the altar perch, the moon shined off an ominous looking helm of the owl that donned it, a helm that was all so familiar…

"_Skarmoris? No! It can't be. He's dead!_" Kludd fearfully thought in his head…before noting how smaller he was in comparison to the dark owl, "_Wait. He's smaller than I remember, and his feathers are…_"

His thoughts was interrupted by a familiar rough dark voice,

"Hello, Kludd."

Kludd and Nyra both gasped in horror, "Nix?!"

"Nix?!" Soren and the others screeched, them remembering the grass owl that tried to kill them all.

"Oh no…" Eglantine whimpered as she remembered him, as Noctus and Marella protectively shielded her from the owl.

The grass owl stepped out of the shadow, revealing his well-toned brown feathered figure, as well as his right orange eye through the broken part of the helm, his scarred half concealed by the helm's remaining side.

Kludd was dumbfounded, "B-but…how-"

"Don't act so surprised, Kludd." Nix spat with venom.

"What…what are you doing with that thing?!" Kludd demanded, as Nyra helped him to his feet, gesturing to the helm that was bringing back old memories of the hagsfiend he and his brother faced.

"Well…I should have you know, since our last encounter six months ago…I had grown in more ways than one." The grass owl sneered, "Now…I am a king…the new glorious leader of the Pure Ones!" He bellowed, spreading his wings wide.

The two ex-Pure Ones and the band and Ezylryb gaped in shock, as Nyra whispered, "No…that can't be!"

"Oh but it is, Nyra." Nix chuckled darkly, "If your friends recalled, I told them that when Skarmoris lost his right to hold this crown, I would take my turn…and now that turn had come."

"But…how can you be king? The entire Pure One army was crushed under the pillar!" Soren stated matter-of-factly.

"No…Skarmoris's Cannabis Regime legion was crushed under the pillar…as for the army…simply observe." Nix gloated as he then gave a screech, catching everyone off guard. At that moment, the side windows of the now broken central stained glass window that was over the altar were shattered as helmed owls flew in, landing behind their leader.

"HEY! Those glass-stained windows cost a fortune!" LaRoche screeched, rather angry that they're wrecking their stuff.

Then, a familiar barn owl landed next to Nix, his helm glowing in the moonlight, immediately achieving recognition from the ex-king and queen…

"Uglamore?" Nyra questioned, not believing her eyes, "Is that you?"

Uglamore did not respond, as his eyes were contorted into a fierce glare…

"And that's just the tip of the mountain…" Nix sneered, as he then gave a nod to Harris. Confused, the others turn to Harris, who then gave his own screech. In response, more helmed owls filed into the room through the broken doors, followed by a colorful array of hawks, donning nothing more than battle claws and swords, as they surrounded the whole crowd, causing all the unarmed citizens to go yeep with terror and intimidating the Guardians...

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" LaRoche screeched, shocked by the presence of so many enemies.

Ezylryb and Boron were both horrified as the old Screech Owl turned to Harris, "Wait...you...and Nix...are working together?"

"Working together is a strong way of putting it, Lyze." Harris shrugged as he approached the band, not bothering to face Nix, "Let's say that me and Nix happens to share the same goal...and he strong-winged me into joining him." He begrudgingly admitted.

"You pathetic fool..." Nyra growled at Harris, as she then turned and glared at Nix, "The Pure Ones' name was already in the ground, and you must stain it even further by associating with these filths?!"

"Oh, you're the one to talk, my queen!"

Nyra and Kludd immediately about-face towards the origin of the voice as she saw Wortmore, standing next to Fatal, glaring at her, her own glare dampening, "Wortmore..."

"He's not the only one, Nyra!" Kludd and Nyra turned to see Stryker on the other side of the eagle.

"Stryker..." Kludd gasped.

"You mangy ingrate...after all I had done for you...making you into a soldier that would become king...and you...you do this?!" Stryker screamed, so angry that it surprised Wortmore.

"Stryker, calm down! I know they betrayed us, but you are taking it a bit too personally..." Wortmore shuddered.

"Betray you?!" Soren repeated angrily, stepping to defend his brother, "Last I heard, it was all of you that betrayed my brother and Nyra first!"

"Yes...you left me and my to-be mate no choice!" Kludd spat, "You went against your own king and you have the gall to say we are the traitors?!"

"That doesn't matter, milord..." Uglamore stated, surprising Kludd and Nyra, "If I should even call you that...we may had betrayed you...but a sin in retaliation is not justified for the sin that was done. We only followed the one with the strongest will...and Nix is the one."

"No…Uglamore...you can't be serious..." Nyra whispered.

"But he is, Nyra..." Nix chuckled, stepping forth, prompting a glare from Nyra, as well as Kludd, "How does it feel to have everything you had used against you? It doesn't feel good, does it?"

"What do you want, Nix?!" Kludd snarled, as he felt fury coursing through his veins, appalled by his new low...

"Only one thing, Kludd...vengeance." Nix growled, his sole eye gleaming with an equal amount of fury, "You had done me wrong so many times. You beaten me, humiliated me, _scarred_ me..." Nix emphasized by gesturing to his dead scarred eye, "And left me to die!"

"That was your own doing, son..." Ezylryb growled, "You tried to kill all of us! That scar should serve as a reminder for your foolishness!"

"Oh, it does alright...except it reminds me of how foolish you all are to cross me, Lord Nix Voltaire!" Nix declared, "And now...I am going to finish what I had started!"

"What makes you think we are going to let you do that?!" Boron barked, taking control of the situation they were in, "Whatever it is that you are planning, cast it aside and fly away! We are the Guardians, and we will uphold our oath, even if we have to do so here!"

"Hmm, you are still bold as you were before, your majesty." Harris darkly chuckled, "But may I remind you of who holds the winning sleight of talons here: Nix and mine's men have all of you, unarmed and without any protection of any kind, surrounded in a typical pincer formation. Sure, there may be reinforcements, but I think by the time they get here, there will be pieces of you all strewn everywhere!" When he said the last sentence, the guests began to grow even more scared.

"You cocky-ass bastard!" Bubo growled, ready to attack before being stopped by Strix Struma.

"Calm yourself, Bubo. I'm afraid the bloody hawk is right." The short-eared owl begrudingly admitted.

However, the band was the most concerned as they were caught in the middle of the crowd between Nix and Harris and their soldiers.

"Soren, what do we do?" Gylfie whispered fearfully.

"I don't know. They have us outnumbered about ten to one..." Soren whispered back.

"Actually, dear, I think we are talking six to one." Otulissa corrected, "But I agree, this does look bad."

"Who cares, I say bring them on!" Twilight gloated, "I can take them all on!"

"Twilight, we had been over this with the cannibals back at the pillar. You can't take on an army by yourself!" Digger snapped.

"Guys, now is not the time!" Kludd growled, growing rather tired of their bickering.

"I am going to give you a choice, Kludd." Nix sneered, "Just lay down and surrender to us and we might just be quick and merciful with your deaths…or you and your _Guardians_ rebel, and we kill you all with the greatest prejudice…"

Kludd simply grunted in anger, "You think I am afraid of you? You may be king now, Nix…but you are still that same insufferable spronk whose tailfeathers I kicked six months ago. You have an army, so what?! We are Guardians, and we won't be intimidated by you or Harris!"

"And you will not hurt a single feather of anyone in this tree!" Nyra finished, not showing any signs of backing down.

All the Guardians in the crowd took note of their words as they took battle stances, despite not having battle claws of any sort on them, keeping their eyes on the enemies. Even the Parliament members took battle stances…well, except Dewlap and Madame Plonk, the latter not being a fighter, while Dewlap…she was slightly a coward. Shard, being the only owl to have his claws on him, only thought to himself as he adopted battle stance, "_Huh…never thought a wedding would turn out like this…_"

Nix, however, only scoffed at Kludd's words, "Hmph, six months and you think you are one of them? Glaux, you are pathetic." Kludd snarled, as Nix continued, "But since you are so willing to die, I won't have to hold back when I decorate this damn tree with your-"

The grass owl's speech was interrupted when two big owls smashed through the ceiling of the hall, landing on opposite sides of Nix, almost causing the grass owl himself to flinch.

"OH, FOR GLAUX'S SAKE!" LaRoche screeched at further damage of the tree.

The dust settled as two Long-Eared Owls slowly picked themselves up and one of them dizzily said, doing a salute, "Jatt…and Jutt…reporting for duty."

"Jatt? Jutt?" Nyra asked incredulously.

The cousins immediately snapped out of their daze as Jutt happily greeted, "Oh, hello, ma'am, hello, boss!" Kludd and Nyra shared a confused glance at the two owls' greeting them like they were friends.

"Nice to see you and boss are doing fine! We would have brought a gift for your wedding, but we only learned about it last-"

"JATT! JUTT!" The two cousins immediately shut their beaks as they fearfully turned to Nix, "Do I interrupt you two when you two are speaking?"

"Well…" Jatt trailed off.

"ANSWER ME, DAMMIT!" Nix demanded.

"No, you don't." Jutt answered fearfully.

"I don't?" Nix asked angrily.

"You don't." The two cousins gulped.

"WELL, DON'T INTERRUPT ME THEN, YOU SPRINKING MOONCALVES!" Nix barked, shocking everyone, as he then glared at Kludd, giving out a dark chuckle, "Anyway, Kludd…it is time for you to meet your maker!"

"In your dreams…" Kludd spat back, as he took battle stance, his to-be mate doing the same, and his brother as well.

The room remained silent for a moment as the Guardians and the Pure Ones, as well as the hawks, shared glares with each others, as Kludd, Nyra, and Soren glared at Nix, while Digger, Gylfie, and Twilight, along with Boron, plus a few others glared at Harris.

Ezylryb, in the midst of this standoff, whispered softly to Alice, who was standing next to him during this whole incident, "Alice, I need you to get all the civilians out of here. Can you do that?"

"Yes…but please do be careful." Alice replied.

"Come on, Alice, we're Guardians." The Screech Owl chuckled cockily, "We dealt with both the hawks and Pure Ones many times before."

The silence was eventually broken as Nix maniacally laughed, "Let's get this over with, shall we? Soliders…kill them." He ordered sternly.

With that order, the Pure Ones and the hawks let out their battle cries as they charged at the Guardians. The Guardians responded in kind, as they let out their own cries and attacked them as well, causing the entire hall to erupt in battle. Kludd was about to attack Nix himself, but was immediately blindsided by a couple of Pure Ones.

"EVERYONE, GET OUT TO THE HALLS!" Alice screeched as immediately, all the unarmed civilians, Dewlap and Madame Plonk included, took to the air and quickly flapped out into the hallways.

Eglantine was immediately frightened as she saw owls fighting all around her, but even more scared as she saw the grass owl, the one that had her in her grasp before, watching the scene with delight, and was about to screech for her brothers when suddenly, she was swept up by her father.

"Kludd! Soren!" She yelped.

"Eglantine, we need to get out of here!" Noctus yelled, as he, followed by his mate and Mrs. P, quickly made their way out of the wedding hall, leaving only the two warring factions in the hall.

Feathers were flying everywhere as the Guardians collided claws with the helmed soldiers. Since they did not have battle claws on them, they had to resort to knocking them out of commission by brunt force. However, this does prove to be tasking, as the Pure Ones were more focused on taking their approach a step further…as for the hawks…they were oddly focused on looting them.

A Guardian lunged at a random hawk, only to have the hawk expertly dodged his claws as he grasped his cape and with a well-placed kick to the beak, ripped it off him and knocking the Guardian unconscious. The hawk merely marveled at the cape he got afterwards…only to get bludgeoned in the side by Bubo.

"HEY! KEEP YOUR BLOODY MITTS OFF OUR STUFF!" Bubo barked.

However, that did not stopped them as hawks took every attempt they could as they flew through the battlefield and grabbing the items off of the owls, from necklaces to capes, and one owl's feathers, all possibly to sell later on.

Nix watched the scene unfolded with a bit of evil glee, seeing his own soldiers brawl with their enemies, quite confident in himself that the battle is only going to end in their victory. The battle cries and clanging of battle claws was like music to his ear slits, confirming that he not only enjoy a good fight…he lived for it.

However, his thoughts were interrupted by a loud screech.

"HEY!"

Nix turned towards the crowd in confusion, as a small Elf Owl, feathers ruffled from the high stressed situation he was suddenly thrown into, feverishly dodging around the swipes of battle claws and charges of other owls, approaching the altar with a severely angry expression on his beak.

"REMEMBER ME, BUB?!" LaRoche screamed, angrily stomping towards him.

The grass owl's brow furrowed in confusion shortly, before they widened in realization of who was addressing him, before giving a darker grin. "Hmm, I don't know…should I remember you?" Nix falsely asked dumbly.

LaRoche's feathers got even more ruffled, "YES! I REMEMBER SIX MONTHS, TWO WEEKS, THREE DAYS, ONE HOUR, TWENTY-EIGHT MINUTES AGO, YOU HUMILIATED ME! BEATEN ME TO A BLOODY PULP AND LEFT ME IN THE SPRINKING LIBRARY!" He screamed, angrier than before.

"Geez, you remember that much? You need to learn to let those stuff go..." Nix sneered while shaking his head.

The Elf Owl only growled, "SHUT UP! You may have defeated me last time, but now it is time for my comeuppance! This time, I SHALL PREVAIL!"

"My Glaux, you are so cute as a angry little fluff ball." Nix mocked with a sense of superiority.

"Cute?! Little?!" LaRoche repeated, his moon-scarred eye twitching, as he then screeched, "YOU SPRINKING LITTLE-" He finished with a caw as he charged at the grass owl, hoping to finally get payback, splaying his claws open to meet flesh...unfortunately, they would never do so, for before he could get even close, he was met with a vicious punch from the evil king's right claw...and given the trajectory of such a contact, the poor Elf Owl was sent through an unbroken window (effectively breaking it), as he screamed, "YA-HA-HA-HOOEY!" (**Goofy Scream! XD**)

"Pfft…still puny Guardian..." Nix muttered with the rolling of his eyes (**Note: I do not care that owls can't roll their eyes, this is FICTION!**).

Shard manages to take note of the poor Elf Owl as he then thought to himself, "_He is going to feel that in the dusk._" But he had little time to think as he then dodge another swipe of a Pure One, and retaliated with a strong slap to the attacker's face, and following up with a talon punch, sending him to the ground. Seeing their comrade fall, two other Pure Ones attacked the Northern Great Horned Owl, charging with battle claws raised. However, Shard met both of them with his own battle claws, as he swung one of them aside into a wall, and then giving a kick to the other Pure One's face. "Don't mess with me! I had been trained by the best in combat for ages!" The one that was swung into the wall attempted to attack him again, only to have the trained Guardian back-wing him.

Soren grunted as he swerved around an attack of a hawk, only to have his feathers nearly sheared by another Pure One's claws, prompting to flinch back, only to have his back meet with Kludd, who was busy trying to repel the attackers, but was getting worn out pretty quickly.

"Grr…there so many of them..." Soren growled as he shoved a hawk back.

"You got that right...almost makes me wish that I was on their side again..." Kludd chuckled half-heartedly.

"Kludd..." The younger brother groaned.

"Hey, I said almost..." The scarred Tyto defended, as he then scratch at one of the owl, adopting a serious glare, "We need to get to Nix. If we take out their leader, the rest should follow..."

"Then what's your plan of attack?" Soren asked, as he swung a hawk aside with his talons.

Kludd only gave a grin, "Just cover me, brother." With that, he lunged forward as he barreled his way through the crowd of Pure Ones and hawks. Not having any time to object to Kludd's slightly reckless plan, Soren followed him while doing the same.

The fight was certainly not going the Guardian's way, as more and more of the Guardians were getting beaten down by the combined attacks of the two factions of birds, seriously beaten in both strength and weapons, lacking their common advantage of aerial space. The main culprit of their disadvantageous condition is the lumbering form of Fatal, his well-toned body able to take meager scratches from the noble knights working feverishly to take him down, while countering with powerful swipes of his talons and wings that easily knock some of them out.

"I AM STRONG!" Fatal roared, sweeping his right wing to knock back a couple Guardians, "I AM HANDSOME!" He swung his left wing, batting away another group, "I AM FATAL!" He quickly leapt into the air and crashed down onto the ground, blasting a couple more of them back.

"Aye, doesn't this lad say anything else?!" Strix growled as she, along with other Guardians, attempt to dog-pile him, grabbing talonfuls of feathers, hoping that their combined weight would be too much for the brute, but their efforts only resulted in the eagle getting angrier, as he single-handily threw all of them off with vicious shakes of his body.

"Grr…son of a bitch..." Strix cursed under her breath as she shook the dust, getting ready to strike once more...before getting into another brawl with a few more hawks.

Nyra felt her heartbeat quicken as she tried to block each of her foe's attack, trying to ignore the dread and irony panging in her heart of fighting the ones that she used to lead alongside her late husband and Kludd. She only manage to shove back a unruly hawk when she barely evade a claw swipe from Wortmore, his angry gaze slightly intimidating her (yet another unsettling feeling).

"Wortmore...please, stop this! You can't follow Nix!" Nyra pleaded, not wanting to fight one of her best men (even though he was a bit dumb).

"I'm sorry, but I don't take orders from you anymore, you bitch..." Wortmore spat in anger, as he then darkly chuckled, menacingly approaching her, "You had no idea how long I held in that word when I served under you..."

Nyra stifled a growl as she slowly backed away from him, "Wortmore...you and the others...you gave me and Kludd no choice!"

"RACDROPS!" Wortmore screamed, "You could have come back to us after you killed that sprinked up sprinker...but you didn't...you left all of us behind!" He screeched as he swung his claw at her, cutting through part of the scarlet cloak she was donning.

"I thought you and the others were dead, crushed under that pillar!" Nyra spat back, avoiding another swipe of his claw, "And Kludd...he was dying...he was all that mattered to me..."

"WHAT ABOUT US?!" Wortmore demanded, a hurt tone in his voice, "Didn't we matter? We had dedicated years of our life to you and Metalbeak, and you...you threw it all away just for him?!"

The white Tyto frowned as she felt a pang of guilt in her heart, noting the betrayed tone of his voice, stating "Yes..."

"Unbelievable...after all these years you had called me the stupid one...well, look who's stupid now?!" Wortmore finished with a snarl as he prepared to strike again...only to be blindsided by a brown blur.

Nyra blinked as she saw Ezylryb knocked Wortmore out with one swing of his metal talon and sneered, "It is still you." He turned to Nyra, noting how shaken up she was, "Are you alright?"

"Yes…I'm…I'm fine." Nyra answered…although a part of her mind didn't seem to agree with her.

However, she wasn't given much time to ponder as the old owl then ordered, "Good, because we are not out of the woods yet…let's go!" With that, he charged into another crowd of Pure Ones, and the white barn owl, knowing now was not the time to ponder feelings, followed suit.

"After the little runt!" A soldier barked as he and a group of owls and hawks chased Pip around, the poor Little Owl knowing that he was out-matched. Trying to shake them off, Pip noticed a dropped sword (possibly from a now-knocked out soldier), and hoping his plan would work; he quickly grasped it and pointed it towards the group.

The soldiers immediately flinch at the reveal of the weapon, and one of them fearfully quipped, "H-HE GOT A SWORD!"

Pip gave the sword a quick flourish as he tried to intimidate them, his body swelling up a bit with bravery.

"YOU IDIOTS!" The first soldier screeched, as he held up his sword, "WE ALL GOT SWORDS!" Realizing the truth in his words, all of the soldiers held up their swords in anger. Pip's body immediately deflated at the sight of all the sharp objects, nervously placing the weapon back on the ground...before quickly dashing off once more with the enemies on his tailfeathers. Extremely desperate to live, Pip quickly slipped into a nearby urn, an old trick he resorted to when he was previously faced with Pure Ones. Fortunately, the baddies did not see him do this and were confused when they lost him.

Jatt and Jutt, despite being the bumbling buffoons they were, were holding their own as they punched and kicked all Guardians out of their ways, their bigger bodies and more-than-adequate strength (not enough to match Fatal, however) contributing a decent advantage to their cause.

"YEAH! You like that, uh?" Jatt taunted as he swung his claw at another Guardian, sending the knight flying, "I bet ya do!"

"I don't think so, Jatt." Jutt muttered, catching a Guardian by the head and throwing him aside, "I don't see how owls would like getting beat up, I know we don't."

"Jutt..." Jatt groaned, batting a few adversaries with his wing, "You really need to understand the concept of sarcasm and rhetoric."

"Sorry..." Jutt growled, hating how irritated people get at him for taking things literally.

"Less apologizing, more claw-fighting!" Jatt barked as he charged into a crowd, Jutt begrudgingly following him, parting the crowds of Guardians, Pure Ones, and hawks alike, only focused on causing mayhem in the battlefield...however, as they charged into the field, they immediately froze in their tracks at the sound of strings strumming, their hearts palpitating as if they had just heard the screech of a hagsfiend (and trust them, they had heard such a sound before...). The two looked towards the direction of the sound and gulped.

Twilight, also a excellent warrior, was clearing the Pure Ones left and right with his own might not unlike Jatt and Jutt, but he had a secret weapon...his trusty lute that he kept on him all the time. The lute not only served as a musical instrument that played good music (well, good in some owls' opinion), but as a sturdy club-like equipment that was effective in inflicting damage. The Great Gray swung his lute around, making a comical strumming sound as it banged against the heads of anyone unfortunate to get caught in his weapon's radius, and to the opponents' dismay, the owl was enjoying this battle so much that he had to strum up a battle song in between attacks:

"_I've had enough of your vulture culture_." Twilight punched a Sooty Owl in the face, "_Now hustle on, you stink butt birds,_" He finished that verse with a downward pound on a Cooper's Hawk.

"Did that owl just call us stink butt birds?" A random hawk asked a familiar white kite. The white kite, unable to speak, only shrugged.

The Great Gray continued, "_Hustle on and hear my words._" In an attempt to silence the warrior owl, more evil Tytos and hawks charged at him, but Twilight only bellowed as he began batting at them like flies, "_You're cowards, and I'll slice you up,_" He rammed a couple more owls in the gizzards, "_Then feed you to the wolves for sup!_"

"It's getting closer!" Jatt screeched in terror at the approaching one-man army.

"And he's going to feed us to wolves!" Jutt cried.

The big raptor only churred in delight at the uncertain gazes that the soldiers were now giving him, as he continued his onslaught of attacks, "_You got splat for brains, your gizzards are lame,_" He was now in striking distance of two now-yeep cousins, as he declared to the sky, raising his lute high, "_And now you're going to play my ga-_"

"PLEASE SPARE US! O' NOBLE WIELDER OF THE LUTE!" Jatt and Jutt screeched in fear, groveling at his talons, cutting off Twilight's song.

"Huh?" Twilight asked, remaining in his position.

"Please be merciful, oh noble warrior, for I have a cousin!" Jatt stammered, not willing to get banged on the head by the lute once more.

"Me too!" Jutt added.

The Great Gray was unsure of what to make of this situation, as he lowered his lute and awkwardly addressed, "Er...okay?"

Jatt and Jutt let out cries of relief as they rise up to their feet, "Oh thank you, thank you, oh kind-" Jatt was unable to finish that sentence as both of their faces suddenly contorted into freakishly happy glances, as they crumbled to the ground, conked out. Twilight looked up to see Strix Struma glancing at him smugly.

Twilight blushed, "Oh, thank you, my dear, that was pretty weird."

"Think nothing of it, Twilly." Strix shrugged, "Right now, we need your help with an even bigger problem." She was obviously gesturing to Fatal, who let out another roar as he swung his head into Bubo, who was trying his claws at keeping him busy (but failing miserably).

"Quite right, Strix!" Twilight said boldly, as he prepared to charge, "And what better way to fell a beast than to do it with a song going strong!" With a strum of his lute, he and Strix began to approach the eagle once more, as Twilight sang,

"_So it is a fight you want, dear Fatal?_" Twilight asked in the song, "_Well, prepare to have your world spun like a dredel!_"

Strix looked at her beau oddly, "What is a dredel?"

"You got me. I just said it because it rhymed with Fatal." Twilight admitted.

The two Tyto brothers tried to make their way through the crowd of fighting owls, Kludd shoving every enemy owl out of the way, while Soren weaved and dodged around them, trying to keep up with his brother.

"Kludd, slow down!" Soren screeched after him.

"It's fine, Soren, we are almost through the crowd. We just need to get to Nix!" Kludd barked back at him, trudging forward.

"I know that, it's just-KLUDD LOOK OUT!" The younger brother warned. Kludd quickly look up to find the lean figure of Stryker charging at him. And he would have struck him (**pun not intended**), had not Soren intercepted his tackle.

"Soren!" Kludd yelled, but immediately, Soren and who was once his teacher were lost in the crowd of combatting warriors. Knowing (or rather hoping) that his brother will be alright (and that there were no time to go check), the scarred Tyto struggled out towards the altar once more.

The young Tyto in question was thrown against the ground as Stryker skid against the ground, his beak locked in a vicious scowl.

"You incoherent fool!" Stryker barked, "You dare interfere with my disciplinary actions towards the traitor?!"

"No. I dare to protect my brothers from loathsome hypocrites!" Soren spat back.

"Very well then," Stryker growled, "You will serve as a fine warm-up for when I exercise my discipline upon our traitorous king!" He charged at Soren, beginning their own duel.

Nix was now in the throes of fighting off a few Guardians who happened to approach him, although their efforts would be in vain. Nix had certainly grown in both strength and finesse over the months, making him a tough foe to best, but one of the main reason he became this way was due to the Cannabis Regime, a strengthening method that gives owls heightened senses, strength, and speed via a psychological and chemical effect of feasting on a body of another owl, usually paired with a devastating effect of wiping the owl's brain clean, robbing them of emotion or their own thoughts, given that they have weak wills. This was not the case with Nix, who had benefited from these effects, only at the cost of a bit of his sanity (if he had any to begin with). A Guardian charged at Nix, only to be gripped by his claw and flung hard into the wall, possibly breaking some bones), another tries to punch him, only for Nix to grapple it and broke it with one flick of his talon, and two more tries to double team him by charging at him from two different sides. But in one slow-mo moment, he narrowly twist his body, barely avoiding the claws of the two now-surprised knights, and as the two pass him, he brought his raised wings down on them, nearing snapping their spines and knocking them out.

"Peh, that was laughably eas-GAH!" Nix was about to mock before he was tackled to the ground. The grass owl groaned and snarl in anger as he quickly rolled over to see who had tackled him to the ground...only to have his blood boil at the sight of a specific tyto.

"I don't recall me or Nyra sending you an invitation." Kludd taunted with a cocky grin, while adopting battle stance.

Nix only growled, "You better watch your beak, Kludd, we wouldn't want poor Eglantine to lose her big brother AGAIN!" He screamed the last part as he quickly rose up and talon-punched Kludd in the face, sending him a few steps back, gripping the now bruised beak.

"Dammit," Kludd groaned as he spit a bit of blood from his beak, glaring at Nix, as he regain his battle position.

"Well, here we are again, Kludd..." Nix declared, as the two circled each other, "I had dreamt of this night ever since our last bout back at the pillar. But this time, I will be the victor!"

"That isn't going to happen, Nix...as Ezylryb once quoted, 'No matter how many you try to make the tree falls one way, it will always falls the other way'" The scarred Tyto stated.

"Oh, you are actually listening to that old fossil?!" Nix asked incredulously, as he scoffed, "Once I get done tearing you apart, I want to pay that old coot back for scarring my Glaux-damn face!" He finished with a scream as he gestured to his scarred eye.

"You should be thanking him." Kludd smirked smugly, "It's seems to be an improvement."

Nix's working eye twitched upon hearing them fighting words as he let out a vicious caw and charged at Kludd, who met his battle claws with his own bare claws, engaging in a brutal battle...

Soren kept on dodging as Stryker jabbed forward with his battle claws, backing through the fighting crowds of Pure Ones and the hawks and Guardians. The barn owl knew that he was losing ground fast, but he could not risk retaliating when his foe have very sharp battle claws that could easily cut his talons off like Surtr did with Lyze's back in the Battle of the Ice Claws.

"Glaux dammit, you fool, fight back!" Stryker growled as he swung his claw again, "You Guardians are nothing more than cowards!"

"Will you give it a blow?!" Soren snapped, rather weary of hearing owls called his heroes cowards, "You obviously hadn't heard of defense making a good offense!"

"SPRONK!" Stryker barked, as he did a uppercut, only to meet air once more, "I had been teaching young ones the way of combat for twenty years, and not once had I heard such a ridiculous tactic!"

"Well...maybe if you owls weren't so atrocious..." Soren muttered, before Stryker swung more viciously.

"ATROCIOUS?! WE OWLS ARE FAR SUPERIOR TO YOUR KIND!" The old Barn Owl declared, "We owls pride ourselves on our well-trained soldiers being the greatest!" He swung his claw horizontally, "You know why?" He tries to head butt the younger Guardian, but miss, "WE. HAVE. DISCIPLINE!"

"Discipline?! What does that have to do with anything?!" Soren asked indiginantly, before avoiding another attack.

"EVERYTHING! Why you think we soldiers are able to withhold formation and fight so well?!" Stryker pointed out.

"Sorry if I don't understand your logic, but I fail to see discipline in your army's uncouth battle methods!" The young tyto growled...before realizing that he was now backed against a wall, much to his horror.

"Hey, you know what they say...only the strongest will survive..." Stryker darkly chuckled before glaring at him, "And I prayed that some unfortunate soul will lead them to Glaumora when they DIE!" He screeched, as he was about to stab him.

"Oh no, you don't!"

Stryker had little time to react when a short-eared owl pounded Stryker hard in the side, and before the Barn Owl could react, the angry female slashed him around the stomach area, causing the barn owl to double over in pain.

"GAH! YOU BITCH!" Stryker screamed, gripping his abdomen, "I'll kill you!" Unfortunately, his angry outburst earned him a left hook to the face.

"You shall not insult my to-be mate!" Soren growled, before looking at Otulissa, who was panting, and slightly smiled, "Thanks for the save, Otulissa."

"Anytime, Soren..." Otulissa gave a smile in return, but then adopting a serious glance, "Come now, we have to help out the others!"

"Of course," Soren nodded, letting out an exhausted sigh, as he joined his beloved in the fray against the enemies once more.

The battle's tide was wavering in no man's land, as the Pure Ones were not making much progress in beating the Guardians, despite how out-numbered there were, but the Guardians were faring no better, as more and more Pure Ones kept coming at them left and right. Boron was one of unfortunate one to catch onto this as he flapped over two charging owls, only for them to run into each other. Quickly landing on the ground, Boron let out a pant as he blocks an attack from a hawk and retaliated with a claw swipe to the chest.

"Is that...is that the best you can do?" Boron taunted, feeling a bit of his playful side ingrained into those words as he continued his fight against the soldiers.

However, unbeknownst to him, Uglamore, who was easily beating Guardians left and right, was slowly approaching him, knocking aside any adversary that would get in his way. Like Soren and Kludd, Uglamore knew all too well that if they took down the leader, the rest would be more than likely to fall. That said, Uglamore gave his left battle claw a flex as he neared his target, who was too busy holding off a random grass owl. Despite his grim intent, Uglamore let out a deep sigh, hoping that what he was about to do would be quick and painless. He raised his left claw, and was about to sever Boron's spine when suddenly...

"YOUR MAJESTY! NO!"

Uglamore had to readjust his focus as he quickly locked his raised battle claw with a Horned Owl (who oddly had battle claws unlike the others), and was immediately pushed back as Shard took battle stance in front of Boron, who only just taken notice of them. Frustrated that his assassination attempt had failed, the tempered Barn Owl quickly lunged at the younger Guardian, as well as Shard, resulting in a vicious claw fight as the two owls' claws clang against each other, spending sparks flying everywhere. The two owls were equally matched, as they blocked and parried each other's attacks, not to mention evaded. Uglamore only grunted as he flapped into the air real quick to send a downward swipe upon the Horned Owl, but Shard only met his attack by bulleting up towards him with claws splayed, causing another bout of claw-clashing, both owls now sweating as they feverishly swung their claws like true warriors. Shard gave a screech as he manage to score a kick to the barn owl's face, sending him tumbling to the ground, but given how experienced he was, especially under the training of Surtr and Metalbeak, Uglamore managed to regain balance as he landed on the floor, his sharp claws scratching the floor. Uglamore gave a glare up at Shard as he shot down towards him...

"PURE ONE!" Shard screamed, ready to inflict a finishing blow.

The scarred Pure One only gave a chur as he noticed a dropped sword (coincidentally the same one Pip tried using), and with a flick, Uglamore tossed the sword into the air, and with a well-placed kick, he sent the blade flying towards Shard. The Horned Owl quickly gasped at the surprising attack as he broke from his bullet-like position and quickly deflected the blade, but in doing so, he lost balance. Thinking quickly, Shard spread his wings as he quickly landed half-graciously on his knee, panting heavily.

The first lieutenant gave somewhat of a smirk, respectfully noting his opponent's finesse in battle, "Impressive."

Shard only growled, not wanting any compliments from the enemy, let alone a Pure One, as he rise to his feet, "Save it."

With that, they swung around, their eyes burning bright, colliding their claws once more...

Harris, unlike all the others, was walking through the battlefield, as if he was taking a stroll, barking orders to his hawks as he observed them fight the Guardians.

"You punch!" Harris barked to one, "You kick!" To another one, "You slash!" A loud comical screech of pain ensued, causing Harris to wince, "You slash harder!" He awkwardly ordered once more. Suddenly, in his gaze, he saw a familiar Elf Owl, who was weaving around two Pure Ones's attacks, inadvertently causing the two soldiers to accidentally beat each other up. Soon, the two soldiers were so dizzy, that Gylfie gave a smirk and flap a bit of wind, knocking them both over. Harris immediately recognized her and smiled to himself, "_Hello..._"

Gylfie gave a pant as this 'unexpected turns of events' was taking a bad toll on her, not knowing how long she can keep this up...but she knew it wouldn't be soon, as she heard a clapping of beak, and quickly glance...and glared as she saw Harris clapping his beak (**since they don't have hands**), smiling, "Impressive, little lady. I am glad that after six months, you are still emanating that sweet little charm of yours."

"Give it a blow, Harris!" Gylfie growled, feeling her body grow a bit heavy as she took battle stance, "I don't know why you would side with the Pure Ones, but you are still that chauvinistic, low-life, filthy-minded..."

"You forgot handsome and brilliant..." Harris sneered.

"Cocky, evil pig!" Gylfie finished angrily, not liking the memory of nearly being taken by the hawk.

"Ouch...that had really hurt." The red-tailed hawk mocked, pretending to be offended.

"Fortunately...I know how to deal with you!" The Elf Owl nodded as she quickly charged at the hawk, aiming for his...well, private parts, as she did six months back. Harris gave a bored glance as he simply back-handed the Elf Owl with his right claw, surprising the poor Elf Owl as she was sent against a wall, groaning in pain.

Harris chuckled with superiority. "Nice try, Gylfie...but you know what they say...fool me once, shame on you..."

"GYLFIE!"

Harris looked towards the screech to see an angry Burrowing Owl charging at him, obviously angry that the hawk had hurt his 'girlfriend'...

"What do you know? It's that same dirt miscreant from before." The hawk leader smarmed, acting bored, "And I take it he is about to ram me again..."

The hawk was right on the money, as Digger declared, "You will pay for that, Harris!" lowering his head like a battering ram. Unfortunately, in his anger, Digger did not pay attention to where he was going. Harris saw this, and giving a yawn, he took a step back, and Digger ran smack dab into the wall, dazing him.

"To continue my quote: fool me twice...still shame on you." Harris mocked.

"How about 'thrice'?"

Harris turns his beak confused, only to be met with a vicious punch to the face, sending him sprawling to the ground as he gripped his now bleeding beak. He looked up to see Nyra glaring venomously at him.

"That's for ruining my wedding..." Nyra growled.

"Gah...God damn it!" Harris winced as he slowly got back up, gripping his sore beak, "Why must you hit so hard?!" He whimpered.

"What, did that hurt, Harris?" Nyra falsely sympathized, "Here, let me take a look..." Before Harris could object, she moved his wings out of the way to show his bloody beak, blood seeping out of it, and with a swift kick to the face, Nyra conked him out. "Glaux...I hate hawks." She muttered, before turning to look at Gylfie, who was lifting Digger's head (herself wincing in pain in the process), and asking with concern, "Are you two alright?"

"Yeah, I think we will be fine." Gylfie nodded, as she turned to Digger, who looked pretty dazed, "How about you?"

Digger however looked oddly at Nyra, as he then asked, "Does Kludd know you have a twin sister?"

The two female both sighed, as the Elf Owl stated absolutely, "He will be fine."

Nyra gave a sigh of relief...before hearing battle cries at the other side of the room. Nyra quickly about-face to see Kludd deep in a fight with Nix, and instantly frightened (remembering how awful Nix was six months ago), she screamed, "KLUDD!" as she quickly ran through the fighting crowd despite the sudden objection of Gylfie, drowned out by the fighting.

Kludd and Nix's wings locked once more, as the two tries to wrestle control over the other, keeping their eyes locked viciously on each other. However, Nix's strength outmatched Kludd's, as he then grabbed the Tyto (much to his surprise) and swung him against the wall, cracking it a bit. Kludd slumped to the ground in pain, but did not have enough time to groan as he swiftly caught one of Nix's battle claws by the leg, trying to end him.

Nix only growled as he pushed hard against Kludd's, "You fool…you think you can defeat the true king of the Pure Ones?!"

The scarred Tyto grunted, "Maybe when I get up, I'll bow to you!" With that, Kludd swung his free claw into the grass owl's gizzard, causing Nix to roar in pain as he flinched back, giving Kludd room to rise to his talons, swiftly entering battle stance once more.

The king only scowled, his stature hunched, as the two circled each other once more, "Damn it all to hagsmire…you just don't know when to lie down and die!"

"What's wrong, Nix? Getting tired?" Kludd taunted cockily.

Nix scoffed, "Hardly." He straightened up, his beak smug with an equivalent amount of cockiness, "I will not break till you draw your last breath!"

"Well then, it looks like we will both be disappointed in the end." Kludd shook his head.

The grass owl smirked, much to his confusion, "Oh Kludd, look at how far you had fallen. It was only six months ago that you had been kicked off your throne…and now, you serving as one of those weaklings?" Nix's smirk grew darker, "My, you must love living in your brother's shadow…"

Kludd was caught off guard by the last sentence, "What?!"

"I mean, as a Pure One, you actually had a identity…but now, you are nothing more than a flawed owl of their kind, doomed to be known nothing more than the brother of the famous Pure One kingslayer…" Nix smarmed.

"I know what you are doing, Nix, and it's not going to work!" Kludd growled, "I am not the same owl as I was back then! You can't use my anger against me!"

"Is that so?" Nix asked, "Do you even know what's going to happen when I kill you? I will execute every single owl that ever met you…first I start with your friends…"

Kludd's eyes widened as he mentioned Gylfie and the others…but shook it off, knowing this was part of his mind games.

"Then I will move on to your precious impure-loving family…I will devour that snake of your…"

"_Mrs. P…No, Kludd, don't let him into your head!_" Kludd rehearsed in his mind.

"Kill your parents…" Nix continued.

Kludd's breath started to hitch…his resolve was starting to break little by little, as his anger started to boil.

"And I will most certainly take joy in ending that troublesome brother of yours…" The grass owl sneered, seeing the fury starting to etch on his rival's face.

"No…you can't…" Kludd growled, trying to keep control of his rage.

"And Nyra?" Nix let out a long laugh, "I might take a little bit longer in killing her, you know, make sure that the last name she screams out is mine in pure ecstasy…before ripping her head off."

Kludd's temper began to flare, his feathers shuddering…and unbeknownst to him, his eyes began to flicker red, "No…you can't…I won't let you…"

The king only chuckled, as he knew exactly how to push him over the edge, "As for your little sister, Eglantine…I might spare her…who knows, she might make a fine concubine for me and Harris when she grows up."

With that, Kludd's mind snapped, his eyes turning a fierce red, as he screamed, "YOU BASTARD!" With a roar, he charged at Nix…but the grass owl wanted this, as he suddenly grabbed the barn owl by the throat, and with a short leap, Nix swung him into the ground, creating a cracked indentation, causing Kludd to spit out a bit of blood, his entire body now aching and eyes no longer red.

In the middle of the battlefield, Soren saw the barn owl at the grass owl's mercy as he wrestle against a hawk. "Kludd!" Soren shouted, horrified, as he then swung the hawk aside as he charged for the altar.

Kludd snarled to himself for being so reckless, but had no time to focus on it, as he felt sharp points dig into his cloaked back.

"Heheh, face it, Kludd…you can change your feathers and you can change sides…but you can never change who you truly are…" Nix smarmed, as he ripped his claw away from his beak, effectively ripping through the cloak (much to Kludd's dismay), and raise it skyward as he was about to end him when suddenly, a white blur bashed into him.

Kludd rolled over to see the familiar white-feathered frame of Nyra, spreading her wings, shielding him in a protective manner, as the barn owl only sighed in relief, "Nyra…"

Nix skidded along the ground, hunched over again, as he looked at what attacked him…and smiled, "Well, look who came to your aid, Kludd…"

Nyra's beak was locked in a scowl, her sharp bare claws in battle position, "You will not hurt my mate…not while I'm breathing…"

"How touching…" Nix mocked, "Not to mention smart…you wouldn't want to lose another mate a few minutes before the mating ceremony, would you?"

The white barn owl growled as she then swung her right talon at Nix, who oddly didn't dodge, but rather took the blow, flinching a few steps back.

"Such a shame how that old coot died." Nix laughed/grunted, wincing in pain, "I heard of many glorious death that befell our leaders…but poor Surtr…" He sneered, "He got himself killed by a stick, wielded by some wanna-be hero!"

"Don't you dare say his name!" The white tyto growled, her anger boiling fiercer than Kludd's ever could, punching him once more, blasting him back even more. Who was he to insult Surtr? He was one of the most brilliant owls in the world…even though he had gone mad with power…he was still her mate!

Nix soon found himself against a wall, as Nyra effectively pinned him with a claw to his neck.

Nyra panted, her eyes gleaming with rage, "It's over, Nix. Call off your soldiers…or meet your demise…"

The grass owl only grunted by the tightness of her talon's grip, but not at all deterred, he continued, "What? Like poor Maurice did?"

The snow-white barn owl froze as she heard him mentioned the name of her deceased friend, and growled, "How did you…"

"Simple. Me and the two pellet-brains found his corpse right where you left him…right before I send the bloody sprink to the bottom of the sea and claimed this helm." Nix admitted without any shame, while gesturing to his crown.

The ex-Pure One queen only gaped in shock at what the grass owl did, as she felt her temperament (or what was left) reach it's breaking point…not only he insult her mate, but he desecrate her once-best friend's corpse…

Nix only relish in her shock as he continued, "Oh, yes, Nyra…now that filthy little spawn is rotting in hagsmire with your weak, pathetic mate…"

Nyra immediately went mute at that one last insult. She felt her own heart beating faster and her blood burn ever hotter. Kludd noticed his to-be mate's frame go completely still, "Nyra?" The young Tyto asked, a bit nervous.

The white Tyto's body began to shudder with fury as she then glared at Nix, whose smug expression daunted for a bit, as her eyes went completely red with unmatched rage. No one would dare say or act against her family, her mate, her friends…and live…unleashing all her hatred, she let out a powerful screech…

"**_KREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~!_**"

Her screech was beyond all reason loud…even louder than Nyra though her screech could be as she felt her own ear slits ringing. Upon the very call, every one in the room froze and winced in pain, just as Soren manage to make his way to the altar, just as Gylfie helped Digger up to his feet, just as Twilight and Strix were about to attack Fatal once more, who in turn stopped in his track, just as Uglamore and Shard's claws locked once more, and just as Wortmore, Stryker, and Jatt and Jutt recovered from being knocked out. Every owl in the room, Guardians and Pure Ones, Owls and hawks, looked towards the source of the sound….

The pale-colored Tyto panted and grunting from the pain in her ear slits, her throat now aching…all the while shocked by the sound she just made…

Nix, whose eyes were winced shut from having his ear slits so close to Nyra's, open one eye to see the white Barn Owl, exhausted, and with a surprising smile on his beak, he quickly shove the tyto in the gizzard, catching her off guard, as Nix broke free and took to the air, and said two words that would shock everyone…

"SOLDIERS, RETREAT!"

"W-What?" Kludd asked, as he tried to rise to his feet.

Just as the king commanded, soldiers and hawks alike started to do as the king commanded, immediately stopping what they were doing and flying out the windows.

"What is going on?!" Shard demanded, losing his concentration on Uglamore, giving him enough time to swiftly knock the Horned Owl aside as the first lieutenant left to join his comrades in the mass retreat. Wortmore and Stryker, still a bit dazed from being knocked out, quickly took after Uglamore's example and followed him.

Fatal also took note of the command as he quickly examined the area to find his boss…only to find him just about to get up from his forced slumber…

"Er…what the hell just-GAH!" Harris moaned before being grabbed by Fatal's giant talons as the Golden Eagle smashed his way through the frame of the broken central window.

It was only a matter of moments before all the enemies in the room was vacated from the now destroyed hall, as Kludd looked to Nix, who was hovering in front of the gaping hole that Fatal made…

"Well, it had been nice to see you again, Kludd…but I think it is best we save our dispute for another date. So long!" Nix sneered as he then followed his army out the same hole…leaving everyone utterly confused, but mostly Kludd…

"What the…" Kludd was to ask, before suddenly, Jatt and Jutt, who were still in the hall, quickly pass him as Jatt bellowed,

"Hey, don't forget us!"

"Me t-WHOA!" Jutt cried out before tripping, running into Jatt as he was about to take off, resulting in the two tumbling out the hole, both screaming, much to Kludd's shock…and then the two suddenly flying off into the horizon, as they began to squabble about 'nearly getting them killed'.

As soon as the two long-eared owls were gone…silence emanated all around the room, leaving Kludd greatly confused as he tried to get up...when suddenly, he felt his brother's wings help him up.

"Are you alright, Kludd?" Soren asked, deeply concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine...but..." Kludd trailed off as he looked off into the horizon where the Pure Ones had disappeared, "What had just happened?"

"I wish I knew, brother..." Soren admitted, himself confused by the turns of events.

Suddenly, grunting sounds were made as Kludd and Soren quickly looked at Nyra, who was trying to pick herself up, gripping her wing as it was sore. But what surprised Kludd, however, were the burning red irises she possessed.

"Nyra...your eyes..." Kludd began. In the time he spent with Nyra, he was well aware of how her eyes would turn red when angered to a point. If there was one thing he had learned in his relationship with her, it's never a good thing that she remains this way. "Nyra...snap out of it! The fight is over!" He ordered.

The female glanced at Kludd and Soren oddly, before processing what her to-be mate said, shaking her head to remove the red from her eyes, before placing a wing on it, as her head began to hurt…

"Nyra…" Kludd sighed sadly, relieved that she was okay…but then looked to the hall, now destroyed, where all the Guardians were looking at them…mostly, at Nyra, quite horrified by that very loud screech that they all bitterly remembered back at St. Aggies one and a half year ago.

Unfortunately, Nyra quickly took note of the frightened eyes, and lowered her head in defeat…this night had went from something completely beautiful into a daymare, and even though nothing had been said yet, she knew deep down that she might have brought herself a step backwards in terms of redemption…they may had thwarted the enemies, but it still seemed like they had lost…

* * *

**A/N: Okay, what did you guys think of that? I'm sorry if the ending wasn't that good, but I wanted to build up for the next chapter. As you can see, I was greatly inspired by the wedding fight scene in Aladdin and the King of Thieves, as well as the original Aladdin. I hoped that I had done well in crashing the wedding, and I bet you guys are wondering why Nix had called that retreat, when they had them outnumbered. That answer will be revealed in the next chapter, where we will delve into darker parts of the story. READ AND REVIEW!**

**Note: In the ITD, the siblings I mentioned are none other than Aaron and Autumn Kin of LydeaBlaze's stories, namely The Princess and The War Hero. They belong to her. Also, Eve Alba is none other than Eve from CommanderEVE's story, Wings of Steel, and belongs to her. You should read their stories, as they are very good.**

**Also, if you guys enjoyed this story so far, you should check out Crazybird's sequel to her LotG story, Beyond The Crimson Eyes, as well as my new acquaintance DarthAstzelur's story, The Legend of The Guardians: Kludd's Son, whose story I am currently beta-reading for.**

**Voice Cast for OCs**

**Bubo Craggs – Craig Ferguson (****_Gobber _****from ****_How To Train Your Dragon_****/****_Owl _****from ****_Winnie the Pooh (2011)_****)**

**Dewlap Petale – Imelda Staunton (****_Dolores Umbridge _****from ****_The Harry Potter series_****)**

**Madame Plonk – Maggie Smith (****_Professor Minerva McGonagall _****from ****_The Harry Potter series_****)**

**Shard Grayeth – David Boreanaz (****_Seeley Booth_**** from ****_Bones_****) (Note: I do not know who's Shard's actor in the game, so this will have to do)**

**LaRoche Dursley – Rob Riggle (****_Aloysius O'Hare _****from ****_The Lorax (2012)_****)**

**Alice Monroe – Glenn Close (****_Cruella De Vil_**** from ****_101 Dalmanitans (Live-action)_****)**

**Pip Swann – Matt Stone (****_Pip_**** from ****_South Park_****)**

**Nix Voltaire – Jensen Ackles (****_Dean Winchester _****from****_ Supernatural_****)**

**Harris Hawk – Simon Baker (****_Patrick Jane _****from ****_The Mentalist_****)**

**Fatal – Joel Segel (****_Marshall _****from ****_How I Met Your Mother_****/****_Vector _****from ****_Despicable Me_****)**

**Uglamore Terrence – Bryan Cranston (****_Vitaly _****from ****_Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted_****/****_Hal _****from ****_Malcolm In The Middle_****)**

**Wortmore Kirk – Ted Lewis (****_Jack Atlas _****from ****_Yugioh 5Ds_****/****_Giovanni _****from ****_Pokémon (Anime)_****)**

**Stryker Colt – Joe Mantegna (****_David Rossi _****from ****_Criminal Minds_****/****_Fat Tony _****from ****_The Simpsons_****)**

**_Artworks stuff is appreciated, deeply appreciated._**


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